Vegas Golden Knights: Five Best Regular Season Games
5) March 18th, 2018 Game #72 Vegas Golden Knights def Calgary Flames 4-0
I know what many of you are thinking. Why would he choose this game? The parameters of this game were huge for the Flames, but the Golden Knights also needed to have this one.
The team came into this game losing their worst games of the year 8-3 against New Jersey and followed that with a lousy effort in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild. While they still had a pretty firm hold on the division, the team needed to get back on track in a big way. The Flames came out strong, but they couldn’t find a way to get one past Marc-Andre Fleury. The Golden Knights once again took a while to break the ice but eventually in the second period, that’s precisely what they did.
Colin Miller scored the first goal of the game from the blue line and gave Vegas a 1-0 lead in the second period. The goal woke the crowd up and most importantly woke the team up as well. From that point on, it was the William Karlsson show at T-Mobile Arena.
Karlsson scored not one, not two but three goals in a span of eight and a half minutes in the middle frame and put the Golden Knights up to a comfortable 4-0 lead. This was Karlsson’s second hat trick of the season, but this time it was a natural hat trick.
The Golden Knights went on to beat the Flames 4-0 and put those past losses in the rearview mirror. Even though Karlsson stole the show, it was Fleury who staved off the Flames in the early portion of the game.
4) October 6th, 2017 Game #1 Vegas Golden Knights def Dallas Stars 2-1
Of course, this game had to be on there. This was the one that started it all for the Vegas Golden Knights. Every Vegas Golden Knights fan, including myself, were on the edge of my seat for this one.
Expectations were low early in the year, and no one really thought anything of this team. Vegas fans came out and made some noise on the road hoping for a victory in their first game. But what happened before the game even started was the moment of the night.
The Dallas Stars and their fans paused for a moment of silence due to the Las Vegas shooting that occurred just five days prior. It was a classy gesture by the Stars organization, and both teams coaching staffs embraced one another.
Vegas had a stable first period, but couldn’t find a way to put one past goaltender Ben Bishop. In the second period, the ice tilted in the Stars favor heavily. Tyler Seguin tipped one past Marc-Andre Fleury on the power play to give the Stars a 1-0 lead late in the second period.
The turning point occurred when Reilly Smith took a shot that hit Bishop in the mask, and he had to exit the game. In stepped Kari Lehtonen and the Golden Knights took advantage of a cold goaltender coming off the bench.
James Neal scored the first goal in franchise history beating Lehtonen five-hole on a delayed penalty. Just under seven minutes later, Jason Garrison sprung Cody Eakin to give the Golden Knights an odd-man rush. Eakin saucered the puck over to Neal and on one knee roofed it past Lehtonen to provide Vegas with a 2-1 lead with under two minutes left.
Despite a late push by Dallas, the Golden Knights came out on the winning end in their first game in franchise history. Fleury earned the number one star by stopping 45 shots on 46 shot attempts. The game was an emotional roller coaster, to say the least.
3) March 31st, 2018 Game #79 Vegas Golden Knights def San Jose Sharks 3-2
Before the game, the Golden Knights once more had a great tribute in honor of the victims in the Las Vegas shooting on October 1st. The Golden Knights retired the #58 in honor of the lives that were lost on that sad day. All I can say is that was a classy touch by a classy organization.
The last home game of the regular season and there was an added buzz to this one. With a single point, the Golden Knights would clinch a Pacific division title in their first year of existence. The only thing standing in their way from the crown is a team that’s playing its best hockey all year long.
Shea Theodore opened up the scoring just over two minutes in when he sniped one past Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Joe Pavelski quickly answered four and a half minutes later to tie the game heading into the middle frame.
Scoring from an unlikely source is always welcomed. And Oscar Lindberg did just that when he tipped home Theodore’s shot from the point to put Vegas back out in front. However, Marc-Edouard Vlasic tied the game on a backhand shot that Fleury couldn’t see.
Jon Merrill took a tough tripping call nearly halfway through the third period, but it turned out to be a blessing. William Karlsson tipped a pass in the defensive zone, went on the breakaway and worked his magic. The shorthanded goal gave Vegas a 3-2 lead, and they never relinquished their stranglehold again.
As time was ticking off the clock, the reality started to set in as Golden Knights fans began to celebrate. When the clock read zero, the Golden Knights immediately put “Pacific Division Champions” on the big jumbotron at center ice.
Karlsson and Theodore each earned the third and second stars of the game while the fans at the game took the number one star. The building was indeed the loudest the building has ever been. This one was a natural choice to make anyone’s top five regular-season games list.
2) December 19th, 2017 Game #33 Vegas Golden Knights def Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3
This game was labeled as the first real big test for the Golden Knights. The Tampa Bay Lightning came into T-Mobile Arena as the league’s best team, and Vegas never played a team like them. And it sure looked like it to start the game as Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov scored two power-play goals in the first period to give Tampa a quick 2-0 edge.
But the Golden Knights never waivered and answered back with two power play goals of their own. The first was from James Neal on a quick shot from the goal line past Andrei Vasilevskiy’s far side. And the second was from Jonathan Marchessault who beat the young upstart goaltender five-hole to tie the game.
The third period was one of the wildest periods of the entire year from the Golden Knights. First, Shea Theodore took a wrist shot that Erik Haula tipped past Vasilevskiy put Vegas in the driver’s seat with 15 minutes to go. Then in a crazy sequence, Victor Hedman skates it into the zone takes a simple wrist shot and it beats the Flower to tie the game. Colin Miller wanted to block the shot, but it may have tipped off him slightly, and it may have thrown Fleury off at the last second.
Deryk Engelland then took one of the weirdest penalties in hockey; “throwing the stick.” However, the Golden Knights ended up killing the penalty without one of their best penalty killers. Then things started to get interesting when Brayden Coburn took a “holding the stick” penalty in the dying seconds of the third period.
When I was watching this game at that moment, I immediately said: “they got at least point in the bank, now let’s hope for the best in overtime.” Ironically, it didn’t need overtime, as Theodore ripped one past Vasilevskiy with 2.3 seconds left. The goal sent T-Mobile Arena into a frenzy, and it was one of those “David beat Goliath” feel good moments.
Theodore racked up four points in the game (1 G, 3 A) and David Perron also added three assists. This game would’ve been number one on my list, but there’s only one game that outshined this one.
1) October 10th, 2017 Game #3 Vegas Golden Knights def Arizona Coyotes 5-2
This home opener stood out from all the rest in the NHL. The Vegas Golden Knights had a fantastic tribute before the game in honor of the victims of the Las Vegas shooting on October 1st. The gameday staff did a masterful job from start to finish.
First, they introduced all the players with the first responders from October 1st. They had a 58-second moment of silence before the game to honor the lives that were lost. You could hear a pin drop when the team started displaying each of the victim’s names on the ice.
The national anthem was sung, then out of nowhere, Deryk Engelland asks for the mic. Engelland puts together a great speech that came from the heart. The whole crowd roared in cheers when Engelland said the words “We Are Vegas Strong.” That concluded one of the best ceremonies I’ve ever seen.
A hockey game then commenced as the puck officially dropped for the first time in Las Vegas. The rowdy fanbase didn’t need to wait long for the first home goal in Golden Knights history. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare led a swift pass to Tomas Nosek who quickly fired it past Antti Raanta for an early 1-0 lead.
The Golden Knights kept pouring it on as Deryk Engelland scored an emotional goal as he slapped one past Raanta in front of his home crowd. The atmosphere in the building from those two goals was electric, it felt like a playoff game.
James Neal added another, and the Coyotes ended up pulling Raanta, but that move didn’t really pan out either. Neal net a power-play goal past Louis Domingue to give the Golden Knights a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Golden Knights went onto win the game 5-2 and gave the fans a stick salute that has since become a tradition after every victory. The scene with the players at center ice giving the fans their respect with “Viva Las Vegas” playing in the background was absolutely incredible. A moment I will never forget.
Next: Vegas Golden Knights Faceoff Against Los Angeles Kings In Round One
So there are my top five Vegas Golden Knights regular season games. What your list? Send me a comment or tweet, and we can have a discussion.