Vegas Golden Knights Win First Playoff Game In Franchise History

A physical game one led to the Vegas Golden Knights outbattling the Los Angeles Kings.

Just hours before game one and we heard from Head Coach Gerard Gallant that David Perron wouldn’t be in the lineup. Meaning Gallant had a huge decision to make before the series opener. Who would take the 12th forward slot in the lineup?

After mulling over options such as Ryan Reaves and Oscar Lindberg, the coach went with William Carrier. A physical but fast fourth line player who could do a bunch of different things. He could agitate the opponent, draw penalties and hit like no other.

With Luca Sbisa still out, Jon Merrill took over the sixth defensemen role. Marc-Andre Fleury got the call in net opposite to Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. The game had ac certain buzz right before and the Golden Knights put on a show before the game even started.

The Golden Knights opened with a special pregame ceremony and a different intro than usual. The team was introduced from a Knight head that came from the sky of T-Mobile Arena. A nice touch by the gameday department!

The game started and the physical portion of the game began right away. Carrier leveling Drew Doughty into the boards brought the fans to their collective feet. And it didn’t take long for the Golden Knights to score their first playoff goal in team history.

Carrier once again laid a huge on Christian Folin that separated him from the puck. Tomas Nosek picked up the puck behind the net and found Shea Theodore who wristed one towards the net and beat Jonathan Quick. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare looked like he tipped it on the way through, but it still stands as Theodore’s goal.

Carrier led the team in hits with ten in just 8:49 of total ice time. Jonathan Marchessault wasn’t far behind him as he brought the physical force as well with eight hits. On the Kings side, Adrian Kempe and Trevor Lewis led their respective team in hits with seven.

Penalties filled the entire scorecard thereafter as both teams penalty killing units were outstanding most of the night. The Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings finished the game with 3/3 on the penalty kill. The team that may go onto have better special teams may win this series.

Theodore’s shot stood as the eventual game-winner as that was the only goal of the game. Time ticked off the clock as the Golden Knights made history. The Vegas Golden Knights win their first playoff game in franchise history, and it sent the wildest crowd of the year into a frenzy. With a ton of games still to go against these guys, it’s always nice to get out to a 1-0 lead in the series.

However, the Golden Knights had some disturbing news to report after the game. Halfway through the third period, Doughty made contact with Carriers head with his shoulder and injured him. He stayed on the bench for awhile, but he made his way back to the room with just a few minutes to go in the game.

Gallant announced that Carrier is day to day with an injury and nothing else to reports as of tonight. Although, the coach did not like the hit on Carrier and he voiced his displeasure. He wasn’t the only one had something to say about the check.

Doughty should absolutely hear from the league about this. If the league wants to stay consistent, then he should face some punishment for this type of hit.

But heading back to the game the Golden Knights defense and the fourth line was simply sensational in this game. They created the most offensive scoring opportunities, and they didn’t allow LA to sniff the net around Fleury. It was a 100% effort from everybody on board tonight.

The Flower was fantastic in goal for the Golden Knights He stopped all 30 shots he faced for the shutout victory and was appointed as the team’s number one star of the game. Without some of his big stops in the second period where the Kings created the most pressure, the Golden Knights wouldn’t be sitting as winners tonight.

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All in all, it wasn’t easy, but the Vegas Golden Knights deserved this victory tonight. Due to Carrier’s injury, game two may provide for some more bad blood if Reaves steps in the lineup on Friday night. Make sure to catch puck drop to see if the Golden Knights can capture a 2-0 series lead at 7 PM PT at T-Mobile Arena on NBCSN and AT&T Sportsnet.