Vegas Golden Knights: This one will hurt for a while

This one will sting for a while to come, Vegas Golden Knights fans.

It might even hurt more than the heartbreak of eventually falling to the Washington Capitals in last year’s Stanley Cup Finals following a fairytale debut season for the Vegas Golden Knights as an NHL franchise.

Tuesday’s epic Game 7 against the San Jose Sharks has already been etched into hockey’s rich tapestry and it will go down in playoff folklore.

There’s nothing anyone can do about that now.

And maybe one day, just maybe, those of a Vegas Golden Knights persuasion will learn to appreciate the part they played in a true sporting spectacle that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

And nor should it.

This week, along with the Carolina Hurricanes’ own Double Overtime win over the reigning Stanley Cup champions in Game 7, we were given the welcome reminder of just how powerful an emotive tool sports can be.

We were taken on an exhilarating, emotional rollercoaster that had us in the grips of pure ecstasy to absolute disbelief in the blink of an eye.

That is Game 7 in a nutshell and the events of this week perfectly epitomises why hockey truly is the best sport on the planet – it serves up drama and entertainment like no other.

But for now the wounds of Tuesday night are still fresh and they sting. They sting a hell of a lot and they won’t heal anytime soon.

This defeat wasn’t any ordinary defeat, it was the ultimate kick to the gut, a crushing blow that will leave a lasting impact.

It’s got to. The manner of this Game 7 loss is what will haunt the Golden Knights the most given that they at one point held a 3-1 series lead and looked destined to embark on another deep playoff run.

It will leave deep scars because this roster, once dubbed ‘The Golden Misfits’ had proved that they belong as one of the NHL’s elite and they had a Second Round berth in their grip.

But, and all within a frantic, chaotic and bonkers four-minute period, the Knights saw their season brutally turned upside down and their dreams of embarking on another magical run to the Stanley Cup Finals snatched away.

Argue all you want about whether or not Cody Eakin’s cross check on Joe Pavelski warranted just a two-minute penalty rather than the five-minute major penalty and 10-minute game misconduct eventually dished out, the fact remains that Vegas still fell apart on the penalty kill.

They still allowed four power play goals to crash into their net in four crazy, spirit-crushing four minutes and they still gave themselves a shot at redemption after Jonathan Marchessault buried the tying goal with just over 40 seconds of regulation remaining.

But the hockey gods favoured a comeback of more epic proportions on Tuesday night, not the one Vegas was desperately trying to carve out.

Instead, it proved to be the turn of the San Jose Sharks to make all the headlines as Barclay Goodrow struck the final lethal blow in Overtime to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

It will only continue to hurt, folks.

It will continue to hurt because you can’t hide from the truth and that is the fact the Knights should have had this series closed out way before Tuesday happened.

They were in cruise control, they had outshot their opponents, tormented Martin Jones and left the Sharks battered and bruised.

But they never went for the kill and ended up paying the ultimate price.

You have to give credit to San Jose who were thrown up against the ropes for most of the series, eating heavy haymaker after heavy haymaker.

But with each thunderous blow they kept on peeling themselves off the canvas time and time again and it was that willpower and perseverance that ultimately saw them through.

So, what now?

Well, the Vegas Golden Knights have now entered uncharted territory after suffering a First Round playoff exit for the first time in their (early) history.

Today was all about reflection as the players cleared out their lockers and rode off into the sunset for the summer, where they will be allowed time to lick their wounds and reset before getting back down to business.

As for us at Vegas Hockey Knight?

We will be spending the next couple of days trawling through the wreckage of Tuesday night and assessing what went wrong and studying the lessons that can be taken from such a jarring defeat.

We will also be reflecting on what went right in what was another memorable and eventful season in Sin City.

Then it will be a case of looking ahead to the NHL Entry Draft and free agency and what might General Manager George McPhee look to do with his roster.

Will he look to add a couple more big hitters or will it be a fairly quiet offseason for the Knights?

Time will tell but, whatever happens, we look forward to taking you all on the ride with us.