Vegas Golden Knights: Tuch the hero as Coyotes taken down in shootout
Is history repeating itself? The Vegas Golden Knights went on a run around this time last year and they are threatening to do the same after beating the Arizona Coyotes in a shootout on Friday.
It was around this time last year that the Vegas Golden Knights got their act together and embarked on a hell of a run, and they are showing signs that they could be on the cusp of doing the same.
After beating the Nashville Predators in thrilling fashion via overtime on Wednesday, the Knights turned their attention to the Arizona Coyotes who came into the contest sitting second in the Pacific Division.
The Coyotes have morphed into a playoff contender this year and they have been getting the job done thanks to their defense, which was ranked first in Goals Against Per Game heading into the game.
So the Golden Knights knew that they were going to have a real battle on their hands and so it proved.
There were no goals in the first period as both goalies stood tall, before Alex Tuch got the Knights on the board early in the second period.
Arizona hit back, however, as Jakob Chychrun made it a tied game and both teams had to settle for a shootout after failing to find the winning goal in either the third period or overtime.
The shootout went three rounds and, after Malcolm Subban made two stops to go a perfect 5-0 in shootouts in his career, it was Tuch who emerged as the hero with the winning goal.
Let’s delve into the game by breaking it down period-by-period…
The Game
First Period – We mentioned this in our Keys to the Game, but the Vegas Golden Knights were coming up against a red hot goalie in Darcy Kuemper, and he certainly lived up to his billing early as he made a big stop on a Mark Stone tip-in.
Vegas were certainly working hard in the offensive zone and getting pucks on net, but they had nothing to show for their efforts.
It was then Malcolm Subban’s turn to come up big for his team as he made a good stop on Derek Stepan, and he then got across well to make a huge save on Oliver Ekman-Larsson‘s one-timer.
Vegas was outshot 13-12 in the opening period but both goalies were standing tall, while Arizona’s compact defense was getting the job done.
Second Period – Shea Theodore pulled off a hell of a move to break up a developing 2-on-0 after Nic Hague’s stick snapped, before the Vegas Golden Knights landed the first blow of the game at 7:01.
Nic Hague let rip with a shot from the point and Alex Tuch had got himself to the front of the net to redirect the shot past Darcy Kuemper.
Vegas was absolutely dominating the second period and were looking more and more like the team we thought they were heading into the regular season.
However, they were brought back to earth at 14:53 as Jakob Chychrun walked in down the left side before unleashing a pure snipe past Malcolm Subban to tie the game.
Third Period – The Golden Knights had a number of opportunities on the power play but they failed to capitalize, while Cody Eakin left the game after being on the wrong end of a crushing hit from Brad Richardson.
William Karlsson was denied by Darcy Kuemper while Malcolm Subban also came up with a huge save to stop Clayton Keller on the doorstep with seconds left in regulation.
Overtime – Malcolm Subban got a pad save on a shot from Phil Kessel, while Darcy Kuemper was also great as both goalies continued to dominate this contest.
Shootout – This game was always destined to go the distance and so it proved with those inside T-Mobile Arena treated to extra hockey on Black Friday.
Nick Schmaltz was stoned by Malcolm Subban and Jonathan Marchessault beat Darcy Kuemper in Round One, before both Shea Theodore and Conor Garland were stopped in the second round.
That set this shootout up for a thrilling finish and so it proved as Christian Dvorak converted for Arizona, but Alex Tuch kept his cool to pull off a filthy move and beat Kuemper to win it for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Let’s go over some notes and stats from the game…
Notes & stats from the game
This was the Vegas Golden Knights lineup against the Nashville Predators:
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stastny-Stone
Tuch-Eakin-Glass
Carrier-Nosek-Reaves
McNabb-Schmidt
Hague-Theodore
Merrill-Engelland
Subban
These were the healthy scratches for the Golden Knights:
Here are some key stats from the game:
- SOG – ARI: 36 – VGK: 38
- FO% – ARI: 46% – VGK: 54%
- PP – ARI: 0/1 – VGK: 1/5
- PIM – ARI: 10 – VGK: 4
- HITS – ARI: 20 – VGK: 45
- BLKS – ARI: 16 – VGK: 12
- GVA – ARI: 4 – VGK: 12
And here is the Official Scoring summary from the game:
- Alex Tuch (2) – PPG – Hague (4), Marchessault (12) – 7:01 / 2nd
- Jakob Chychrun (6) – Goligoski (14), Dvorak (7) – 14:53 / 2nd
Here is the Shootout summary:
R1 – ARI – Save – Nick Schmaltz
R1 – VGK – Goal – Jonathan Marchessault
R2 – ARI – Save – Conor Garland
R2 – VGK – Save – Shea Theodore
R3 – ARI – Goal – Christian Dvorak
R3 – VGK – Goal – Alex Tuch
Let’s go over some notes from the game:
- The Vegas Golden Knights have now won two games in a row and are 13-11-4 on the year after beating the Arizona Coyotes.
- The Knights improved to 7-5-3 at home and are now five points out from first place in the Pacific Division, and four points behind the Coyotes who sit in second.
- It was another big win for the Knights who dominated large parts of the game and they must now build on this momentum ahead of a long road trip on the East Coast.
- Malcolm Subban is now a perfect 5-0 in shootouts in his career and has stopped 18 of 19 attempts, which is damn impressive.
- Subban had another big game and stopped 35 of 36 shots, improving to 2-4-2 this year with a 3.09 Goals Against Average and a .901 Save Percentage.
- Speaking of goaltenders, Garret Sparks was sent back down to the AHL in the wake of the game, according to Jesse Granger of The Athletic.
- Whether that means Marc-Andre Fleury will join up with the team before the road trip to New York remains to be seen.
- Alex Tuch was without doubt the star of the night after scoring in regulation, before grabbing the winning effort in the shootout.
- Tuch now has three points (two goals, one assist) on the year and hopefully he can push on now following what has been an injury plagued season.
- Nic Hague recorded his fourth assist of the year on Tuch’s power play goal, while Jonathan Marchessault registered the secondary helper and the forward now has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) this year.
- Shea Theodore doesn’t miss in the shootout normally, but he did on Friday after being stopped by the impressive Darcy Kuemper.
- Vegas controlled large parts of the game and put in an impressive effort, outshooting the Arizona Coyotes 38-36.
- They were also better in the faceoff circle (54%-46%), and they completely dominated the Coyotes physically, outhitting them 45-20.
- However, Arizona blocked more shots (16-12) and Vegas also gave up more Giveaways (12-4).
- Vegas did a good job on the penalty kill, killing off Arizona’s one attempt and their PK is now ranked 6th in the NHL (84.6).
- The Golden Knights went 1-for-5 on the power play, and their man advantage unit is currently ranked 8th in the league (21.1).
My Three Stars of the game
- Alex Tuch had a goal in regulation before scoring the deciding goal in the shootout to give the Vegas Golden Knights their second consecutive win. It was a big game from Tuch who has endured an injury-ravaged year, and hopefully he can use this as a springboard to become a key piece this year.
- Malcolm Subban had another big effort for the Golden Knights and he’s really stepping up with Marc-Andre Fleury currently away from the team due to personal reasons. He stopped 35 of 36 shots before stopping two of three in the shootout, and he’s giving the Knights a chance to win right now.
- Nic Hague has really found his game alongside Shea Theodore and he enjoyed a strong outing against the Coyotes. He picked up a primary assist on Alex Tuch’s goal in the second period, while he finished the night with one shot on goal, two hits and one blocked shot in 16:50 minutes of ice time.
Official Three Stars of the game
- Malcolm Subban
- Alex Tuch
- Jonathan Marchessault
Next. Dramatic win in Nashville could be season defining. dark
Looking ahead
The Vegas Golden Knights will now embark on a three-game road trip on the East Coast, starting on Monday against the New York Rangers.
They will then face the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday before rounding off the road trip against the New York Islanders on Thursday.