Vegas Golden Knights: Turning Point In Western Conference Finals

Tomas Tatar’s first goal of the playoffs in game two of the Western Conference Finals proved to be critical for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Well, they did it! The Vegas Golden Knights are going to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season. Can you believe it Golden Knights nation?

It only took five games to oust the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Finals. Let’s make no mistake about it; the Jets gave the Golden Knights fits at specific points in this series. This series deserved to go longer than five games, nonetheless, here we are, sitting here waiting for the team that’s going to represent the Eastern Conference.

Many media members thought this storybook run was over when the Jets won the first game of the series. However, after four straight wins, the Golden Knights proved the naysayers and doubters wrong once again. But what was the one event that shifted the entire series in the Golden Knights favor?

Several fans are going to go back to game three and look back at the fantastic series of saves Marc-Andre Fleury made on Mark Scheifele. The series could’ve shifted right back in the Jets favor. The Sorel, Quebec native’s highlight reel saves will go down as the best in the playoffs.

But that’s not the road I’m going down. I want to go back a game before, game two in Winnipeg. The Golden Knights find out that David Perron is so sick that they had to send him back to Las Vegas. So Golden Knights Head Coach Gerard Gallant had a lineup decision on his hands.

The Jack Adams finalist decided to roll with trade deadline acquisition Tomas Tatar. Tatar struggled with the Golden Knights during the regular season by only totaling four goals, two assists, six points and a -11 rating in 20 games played. The Ilava, Czechoslovakia native found himself to be a healthy scratch after the first two games of the first round series against the Los Angeles Kings.

He played game’s three and four of the second round series versus the Sharks but still couldn’t muster any offense. Through four playoff games, the 27-year old didn’t register a single point and only generated four shots on goal. But none of that stopped Gallant from playing the snakebitten forward.

When game two got going, the Golden Knights had to survive a few early scares in the first period in a crazy environment at Bell MTS Place. Although once the game started to calm down, the pace of play started going in the expansion teams favor. All that needed to take place was a great shift and Tatar made sure he finished his chance.

A hard-working shift started by Tatar himself to strip the puck away from Paul Stastny on the end boards. Next, Ryan Carpenter picked up the puck and found Shea Theodore for a wide-open look at Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Instead of going for the shot, he fed Tatar down low for an open chance. Tatar missed on the first opportunity, but earned a second chance and stuffed the puck past Hellebuyck and in the back of the net.

His goal in game two not only provided immediate dividends for the Golden Knights, but they did not trail in any game after Tatar scored the first goal in game two. If he doesn’t score on that sequence, we could be possibly talking about a different series. Because shortly after Tatar scored, Jonathan Marchessault found the scoresheet as well four minutes later.

The Golden Knights began to impose their will from that point on in this series. The Jets never got out to a single lead since game one, and that was thanks to the Golden Knights rock-solid defense and goaltending performance of Fleury.

Next: Vegas Golden Knights Defeat Jets In Game Five And Advance To The Stanley Cup Finals

All in all, the Vegas Golden Knights presented Tatar with one last chance, and he seized it at the most crucial time possible. We’ll see if he plays a role in the Stanley Cup Finals after playing much of the year in the Eastern Conference against familiar foes in the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals.