This is what we’ve been waiting for. We’ve been longing for the kind of offensive outburst engineered on Thursday by the Vegas Golden Knights.
On a night in Florida that may prove more significant than it appears now, the Vegas Golden Knights absolutely blitzed the Panthers to give us a glimpse of who the real Vegas Golden Knights are.
It was an absolute clinic at BB&T Center by the Knights who produced without doubt their best and most clinical outing of the year so far.
And, on a night where the Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes and the Vancouver Canucks all lost, the Golden Knights sparked their season well and truly into life.
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They are now two points behind the Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division, which is there for the taking for the Golden Knights if they can muster up more nights like Thursday.
It was the perfect ending to what has been a long road trip, albeit split up by the 2020 NHL All-Star Game, and it was a timely reminder of just how talented this roster is when its stars deliver.
Mark Stone led the way with an heroic five-point night, while Max Pacioretty, Shea Theodore and Nate Schmidt all played starring roles.
Marc-Andre Fleury also enjoyed an excellent night in-between the pipes and it was the kind of performance Head Coach Peter DeBoer must have been dreaming of since arriving in Vegas in early January.
It was arguably the most complete performance of the year, certainly so from an offensive output given that the Golden Knights amassed the most goals in a single game all season.
They piled on the Panthers, chipping away at their will body blow by body blow, before finally crushing their spirit with a four-goal salvo in the third period.
That is exactly how you are meant to kill teams off and go for the jugular when your opponent is struggling to make the eight count.
It was an aspect of Vegas’ game that had been missing for large chunks of this year, but their ruthless attitude to just dismantle their opponent, a hallmark of their first year in the NHL, returned in style on Thursday.
They picked the Florida Panthers to pieces with a real gusto and impressive swagger, refusing to take their foot off the gas.
In other words, the Knights bullied Florida into submission and were not content until they had left the Panthers begging for mercy on the canvas.
It was sublime, it was impressive and it was a real statement win.
This is who we all thought the Vegas Golden Knights were and they provided us with a tantalizing reminder on Thursday of their scary potential.
If last night’s fireworks show becomes more the rule than the exception, then the rest of the NHL will have to be on high alert heading down the stretch.
Because, if this was the Vegas Golden Knights finally figuring it out and putting it all together, they are going to be one hell of a dangerous beast to try and contain the rest of the way.
This is what we have been waiting for.