Vegas Golden Knights: Tuch’s breakout night, other takeaways from New York

For the first time this season the Vegas Golden Knights have won three games in a row after beating the New York Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

A lack of consistency has plagued the Vegas Golden Knights so far this year, but they are starting to put everything together and they put on a show at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

Taking on a Rangers team that was riding a five game point streak (4-0-1) and had won four straight at home, the Golden Knights were outstanding from the first drop of the puck and they dominated every aspect of the game.

It didn’t take long for Vegas to land the first blow of the night as Alex Tuch‘s wrister found a way through Henrik Lundqvist, before Tuch added his second goal of the night minutes later on the power play.

Reilly Smith, who was pitting his wits against older brother Brendan, scored a filthy effort on the breakaway in the second period, while Max Pacioretty iced the game after one-timing a sublime feed from Cody Glass past Lundqvist.

The Rangers did ruin Malcolm Subban‘s shutout bid, however, after Brendan Lemieux perfectly redirected Jacob Trouba‘s pass beyond the Vegas goalie.

However, Subban was like a brick wall and stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced, while the Golden Knights got a total team effort on their way to picking up a big win.

It was the perfect way to start this three-game road trip and we had some takeaways from the contest…

1. Tuch’s breakout night

To say that it has been a frustrating first quarter of the 2019-20 regular season for Alex Tuch would be a severe understatement.

The forward has only played in 12 games after suffering two significant upper-body injuries, and he walked into Madison Square Garden with just two goals and five points to his name.

However, as he showed in the win over the Arizona Coyotes, Tuch is starting to find his feet, discover his mojo and he took that to a whole different level against the Rangers on Monday.

He ripped a shot beyond Henrik Lundqvist to get Vegas on the board early in the first period, and he read the play well to get to the front of the net and one-time a feed from Nate Schmidt past Lundqvist on the power play minutes later.

In less than five minutes Tuch had doubled his goal tally and the forward was playing with a real swagger that hasn’t been seen so far this year.

It was a big night for Tuch who was born in Syracuse, and the forward is starting to show signs that he’s on the cusp of reaching the peak of his powers and is ready to provide secondary scoring for the Golden Knights this season.

2. Special teams reign supreme

You live and die by your special teams in the NHL and, last night, the Vegas Golden Knights killed the New York Rangers by way of a thousand cuts.

Starting with the power play, the Golden Knights went a perfect 2-for-2 on the man advantage, with Alex Tuch’s second goal of the night really inflicting a lot of mental damage on the Rangers.

Max Pacioretty then iced the game in the second period after one-timing Cody Glass’ sublime feed past Henrik Lundqvist, and both power plays were perfectly executed.

Then there was the penalty kill.

And, let’s face it, the PK has been clicking at an elite level all season but it was at a whole different level last night.

The penalty kill went a perfect 6-for-6, limiting the Rangers to just nine shots on net and killing off all four power plays in the third period as the Blueshirts tried to claw their way back into the game.

Vegas also generated a plethora of shorthanded chances and they now have another weapon on the penalty kill after making a trade for Washington Capitals center Chandler Stephenson on Monday.

3. Glass = Mahomes

Can we start calling Cody Glass Patrick Mahomes please?

The rookie phenom is an elite playmaker and his treasure chest of skills and highlight-reel plays was on full display again on Monday.

With the Golden Knights on the power play in the second period, Glass received the puck from Mark Stone and, without even looking, the forward threw a sublime dish over to Max Pacioretty who cranked a one-timer past Henrik Lundqvist.

It was a stunning goal that came from a stellar pass and it wasn’t the first time this year that Glass had executed the no-look pass, having pulled it off earlier on in the season.

There is no telling just how high Glass’ ceiling is but we know the rookie is talented as hell, and we may have to start referring to him as the Patrick Mahomes of the NHL if he keeps producing these outstanding no-look passes.

And, before we move on, we also learned something else last night from watching Glass play against the Rangers.

Well, I say learned, but we’ve known this for quite a while; Cody Glass should be playing center and that shouldn’t even be an argument.

Glass is a natural center and, with him as the pivot, the third line with William Carrier and Alex Tuch on either wing absolutely dominated last night.

So, Vegas Golden Knights coaching staff, please, please, please keep Cody Glass as a center and don’t move him again.

Thank you!