Vegas Golden Knights: Fresh voice pays off, other takeaways
After a traumatic 24 hours or so, the Vegas Golden Knights put all the drama behind them to grind out a win against the Ottawa Senators.
With the bombshell that Peter DeBoer had replaced Gerard Gallant as Head Coach behind them, the Vegas Golden Knights did what they had to do in order to record their first win of this road trip.
It was a perfect start for the Knights who landed the first blow of the night just 34 seconds into the first period thanks to Paul Stastny, who played a game of tic-tac-toe with Mark Stone before unleashing a deadly wrister past Craig Anderson.
Stastny then returned the favor in the second period as he and Max Pacioretty grabbed helpers on Stone’s wraparound effort, with the forward tallying a goal in his first return to Ottawa since his blockbuster trade at last year’s Trade Deadline.
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It was a three-goal game early in the third thanks to Chandler Stephenson who intercepted a weak pass in the neutral zone before beating Anderson on a breakaway.
Vladislav Namestnikov did get Ottawa on the board with a quick one-timer, before Ryan Reaves effectively iced the game after William Carrier stripped the puck from Anderson from behind the net before feeding Reaves for the one-timer.
There was still time for one more Ottawa goal, though, and it came thanks to Connor Brown who took a dish from Colin White before snapping it past Marc-Andre Fleury on the power play.
It was a big win for the Vegas Golden Knights who snapped a four-game losing streak, and we had some takeaways from the game…
1. Fresh voice pays off
To say that it had been far from perfect preparation in the build-up to this game would have been a severe understatement.
From losing their Head Coach to finding out that their new bench boss was a coach they went to war against, it had been a turbulent couple of days for those players inside the Vegas Golden Knights locker room.
And, having only one brief video session with their new Head Coach prior to faceoff ensured that the Knights went into this contest against the Ottawa Senators with plenty of upheaval and uncertainty.
However, Peter DeBoer promised before the game that he wouldn’t tinker with the systems too much, instead allowing his players just to go out and express themselves.
It certainly worked as Paul Stastny got Vegas on the board just 34 seconds into the first period, before two more unanswered goals from Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson put the Knights firmly in the driving seat.
Granted, the Ottawa Senators did show some fight in the third period but Ryan Reaves’ sixth goal of the year effectively iced the game.
Allowing his players to strut their stuff and not complicating matters by introducing new systems worked a treat for DeBoer, who will stick with the same game plan until after the All-Star Break.
And, following all the drama and controversy regarding the coaching change, it couldn’t have been a better outcome for Peter DeBoer and the Vegas Golden Knights.
2. Stone’s triumphant return
This was Mark Stone’s first game back at the Canadian Tire Centre since the blockbuster trade that sent the forward to the Vegas Golden Knights from the Ottawa Senators at last year’s Trade Deadline.
And it was a hell of a homecoming for Stone.
Honored with a pretty neat tribute video by the Senators, Stone laid on his own party by recording a two-point night with a goal and an assist.
Stone played a game of tic-tac-toe with Paul Stastny for the first goal of the game, with Stastny ripping a wrister past Craig Anderson.
Welcome back, Mark Stone! pic.twitter.com/xohZ3DvxzV
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 17, 2020
Then Stastny and Max Pacioretty combined for Stone’s goal at his former stomping ground as Stone picked up a loose puck before going around the net and slipping a wraparound attempt past Anderson.
It was a special goal from a special player on what was a special night for the two-way forward, who has 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) through 50 games and he could be on pace for a Selke Trophy caliber year.
3. Fleury starting to find his groove
It has been an up-and-down year for Marc-Andre Fleury both on and off the ice, and it hasn’t been a vintage Marc-Andre Fleury regular season.
At one point Fleury’s Save Percentage dipped below .900, which isn’t normal for the future Hall of Famer at all, and poor goaltending has contributed to the inconsistency that has plagued the Vegas Golden Knights so far this year.
However, Fleury has started to find his game again over the duration of his last few outings, and he was impressive against the Ottawa Senators.
Although the Sens will finish as one of the worst teams in the NHL, they still boast an impressive young core and they have been plucky this year.
That was on show again on Thursday and they threw 35 shots on net, with Fleury saving 33 of them.
He made some huge stops, particularly in the third with Ottawa buzzing, and it was a welcome sign that Fleury is starting to settle into a groove.
Next. Takeaways from DeBoer's first media briefing. dark
That is crucial because the Golden Knights will need Fleury to be at the peak of his powers down the stretch, and they are going to need elite goaltending in the postseason too.