Vegas Golden Knights: Secondary scoring emerges in rout of Flames

Notes & Stats from the game

This was the Vegas Golden Knights Lineup…

Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stastny-Stone
Zykov-Eakin-Glass
Carrier-Nosek-Reaves

McNabb-Theodore
Merrill-Holden
Hague-Engelland

Fleury

And these were the healthy scratches for the Vegas Golden Knights:

• Malcolm Subban
• Jake Bischoff
• Brandon Pirri

Here are some key stats from the game:

• SOG – CAL: 35 – VGK: 30
• FO% – CAL: 61% – VGK: 39%
• PP – CAL: 0/4 – VGK: 0/3
• PIM – CAL: 6 – VGK: 8
• HITS – CAL: 25 – VGK: 24
• BLKS – CAL: 11 – VGK: 19
• GVA – CAL: 12 – VGK: 10

Here is the official scoring summary from the game:

• Tomas Nosek (3) – Carrier (1), Stone (5) – 3:24 / 1st
• Rasmus Andersson (1) – Backlund (2), Tkachuk (4) – 4:02 / 2nd
• Johnny Gaudreau (3) – Monahan (2) – 4:35 / 2nd
• Mark Stone (3) – Pacioretty (3) – 6:44 / 2nd
• William Carrier (2) – Karlsson (5), Merrill (1) – 9:54 / 2nd
• Paul Stastny (1) – Pacioretty (4), Engelland (1) – 17:26 / 2nd
• Ryan Reaves (1) – Unassisted – 4:47 / 3rd
• Cody Glass (2) – Zykov (2), Hague (1) – 17:12 / 3rd

Let’s now go over some notes from the game:

• The Vegas Golden Knights now have a record of 3-2-0 after five games in the 2019-20 NHL Regular Season.
• It was the first Pacific Division matchup of the year between the Knights and the Calgary Flames, who are now 2-2-1 to start the year.
• Marc-Andre Fleury made his fourth start of the year and he was sensational, saving 33 of 35 shots and making some huge stops late in the second period.
• Mark Stone has been red hot to start 2019-20 and he recorded his fourth two-point night of the year with a goal and an assist, taking his points tally to eight (three goals, five assists).
• So, because we like a bit of hype, Stone is currently on pace for a 131.2 point season. Not bad. Not bad at all.
• Paul Stastny was bumped back up to the second line and it paid off as he recorded his first goal of the year, with linemate Max Pacioretty claiming the primary helper.
• Max Pacioretty registered a two-point night with two assists and he now has five points (one goal, four assists) on the year.
• Rookie defenseman Nic Hague recorded his first point in the National Hockey League with a secondary assist on Cody Glass’ goal in the third period.
• Speaking of Cody Glass, the rookie phenom was bumped down to the lineup but he recorded his second NHL goal, registering a plus/minus rating of +1 in 11:53 minutes of total ice time with 3:16 of power play time.
• Defensemen Jon Merrill and Deryk Engelland both picked up their first point of the season with an assist each.
• One of the biggest flaws for the Golden Knights so far this year has been their secondary scoring, but they got contributions up and down the lineup against the Flames.

• William Carrier, Tomas Nosek and Ryan Reaves all scored with the latter picking up his first goal of the year, while Carrier also tallied it an assist to make it a two-point night for him and a four-point night for the fourth line.
• Valentin Zykov, playing on the third line, also tallied an assist as the Golden Knights got the secondary scoring they craved.
• Cody Eakin, making his season debut after recovering from an upper body injury, was held without a point but he impressed, picking up a plus/minus rating of +1 in 13:38 minutes of total ice time.
• William Karlsson now has five assists for five points in 2019-20 after tallying an assist on William Carrier’s tuck in the second period.
• Vegas’ top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith dominated against Calgary’s top line in more than seven minutes at 5-on-5 play, amassing five shots, 4 scoring chances, 3 high-danger chances and allowing just 2 shots.
• The Golden Knights were dominated in the faceoff circle again, winning just 39 percent of their draws compared to Calgary’s 61 percent success.
• Both teams drew blanks on the power play with Vegas going 0-for-3 and the Flames going 0-for-4.
• Calgary outhit Vegas 25-24 although the Knights led on the scoreboard when it came to blocks, blocking 19 shots compared to the Flames’ 11 blocked shots.
• Vegas were solid defensively and gave up just ten giveaways, while the Flames coughed up 12.
• Shea Theodore was a horse on the blueline again, leading all Vegas skaters in total ice time with 22:29, including time on both the power play and on the penalty kill.
• The Official Three Stars of the night were: 1. William Carrier 2. Mark Stone 3. Tomas Nosek

It was the response the Vegas Golden Knights coaching staff would have wanted from their players, and they now have the chance to round off a mixed week on a high when they take on the LA Kings on the road on Sunday.