Vegas Golden Knights open new Decade in style by downing Flyers

It was a perfect start to 2020 for the Vegas Golden Knights who won their third straight by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 at T-Mobile Arena.

After finishing the previous Decade with two straight wins, the Vegas Golden Knights started the new one in similar fashion as they came out on top in a track meet against a plucky Flyers team.

The biggest storyline heading into the contest revolved around the fact that defenseman Jon Merrill was lining up as a forward, due to the fact that Tomas Nosek had to miss the game following the birth of his child.

And it proved to be an inspired move as Merrill went on to play a key role in the victory for the Golden Knights.

It wasn’t the best of starts for the Knights, though, as Claude Giroux got the Flyers on the board first.

However, that seemed to wake the Golden Knights up and they responded almost immediately thanks to Shea Theodore, who recorded his sixth goal of the year.

And that started what was a frantic first period packed to the brim with a plethora of high-octane action.

Max Pacioretty continued his superb year by converting on the power play, and Jon Merrill then made playing as a forward look easy after tallying his first goal of the season.

Travis Konecny, who is having a fine season for the Flyers and was recently named to the 2020 All-Star Game in St. Louis, did give Philadelphia a glimmer of hope before Pacioretty snatched that away with his second goal of the night.

It was a much quieter second period as the Golden Knights had to weather a storm with the Flyers doing everything to try and claw their way back into the contest.

That fightback was put to a temporary end as Cody Glass got on the board, although Sean Couturier lit the lamp in the second and in the third period to make it a nervy finish to the game for the Knights.

However, Vegas did what they had to do in order to ice the game and hold on for a winning start to 2020.

Let’s break a thrilling contest down period-by-period:

The Game

First Period – With Tomas Nosek attending the birth of his child, Jon Merrill was used as a forward for the very first time in his NHL career, slotting in on the fourth line.

Jonathan Marchessault also missed out with a lower-body injury, while Marc-Andre Fleury got the start between the pipes.

It was the Flyers who struck first, however, as Claude Giroux one-timed the puck past Fleury at 7:33 following some beautiful passing by his teammates.

Vegas responded quickly, though, as Shea Theodore received a dish from Paul Stastny before ripping a wrister from the right circle past Carter Hart at 8:42.

That goal swung the momentum firmly in the Knights’ favor and they got on the board again at 10:08, with Max Pacioretty burying a quick dish from Stastny on what was a dangerous power play.

It was nonstop action in a frantic opening 20 minutes and the Golden Knights were beginning to seize control of the contest.

Jon Merrill, who was proving that he can be effective as a forward too, was picked out by Nicolas Roy in the slot area before moving to his backhand and beating Hart at 11:27.

Philadelphia did eventually light the lamp again themselves with Travis Konecny driving hard to the net before beating Fleury on the forehand at 14:40.

The scoring wasn’t done there, however, as Pacioretty was the benefactor of a superb feed from Mark Stone before the red hot forward pulled off a move on the backhand to beat Hart at 17:03, with the Knights outshooting the Flyers 18-12 in the first period.

Second Period – The third line had been playing well all night and they got their just rewards at 9:37 in the middle frame, with William Carrier digging the puck out to Cody Glass who slapped it past Carter Hart.

However, the Flyers refused to take a beating quietly and, with 12:08 played, Sean Couturier sweeping up a rebound in-front of net.

As expected given that they were trailing, Philadelphia outshot Vegas 13-5 in the second period.

Third Period – Sean Couturier tallied his second goal of the game just 15 seconds into the final period after snapping a quick one-timer on the power play.

Carter Hart then produced arguably the save of the game to rob Cody Glass, before Marc-Andre Fleury said hold my beer by pulling off an absolutely stunning glove save to deny Claude Giroux.

Philadelphia was trailing by just one goal and they had a five-on-three power play in the final minutes, which turned into a six-on-three after Carter Hart was pulled.

However, Brayden McNabb pulled off two huge plays to help the Vegas Golden Knights hold on to the lead for a winning start to 2020.

Let’s go over some stats and the Three Stars from the game…