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Vegas Golden Knights show their true potential in Isles shutout

By Andrew Steele-Davis

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 13: Max Pacioretty #67, Shea Theodore #27, Jonathan Marchessault #81 and Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after Marchessault scored a second-period power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues during their game at T-Mobile Arena on February 13, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 13: Max Pacioretty #67, Shea Theodore #27, Jonathan Marchessault #81 and Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate after Marchessault scored a second-period power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues during their game at T-Mobile Arena on February 13, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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That was more like it as the Vegas Golden Knights put in a complete effort to shutout the New York Islanders in a 1-0 win at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

After displaying all of their flaws on defense in a wild overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights showed last night that they can play solid hockey.

While not always pleasing on the eye, the Golden Knights got the job done and they have now opened this hellish homestand with two statement wins

From Marc-Andre Fleury through to the offense, everyone did their jobs on Saturday and we were offered a tantalizing glimpse of this team’s true potential.

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Granted, the Islanders lack a potent threat in their offense and they have now gone six whole periods without a single goal, but the Knights still did a fine job of limiting their opponents to scraps.

In-fact, New York only recorded 19 shots on goal with Marc-Andre Fleury saving all 19 for the 60th shutout of his career.

That pales in comparison to the Golden Knights who flung 43 shots in the direction of Semyon Varlamov, who did everything in his power to keep Vegas at bay.

However, the Knights dug in and found a way to win thanks to Reilly Smith, who scored the game-winner with his 22nd goal of the year late in the second period.

It was the type of win that all elite teams need and it highlighted just how efficient this team can be, while Fleury enjoyed a strong night in net following what has been a rough couple of months for the future Hall of Famer.

This was just one of those nights where whichever team rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in the most was going to come out on top.

Luckily, the Golden Knights were prepared to go to war on Saturday.

Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves at some point, as did Nick Holden, and the Knights put up a fight all night.

They refused to get frustrated by Varlamov’s heroics and eventually made the breakthrough, before doing what they had to in order to see the game out.

And that was the most impressive aspect of this win. After allowing 15 goals in their last three games prior to Saturday, the Golden Knights were much more responsible in their own zone and they made an already futile Islanders offense look even more so.

If the Knights can replicate how they played in their own zone on Saturday and the way they looked after the puck, then that will be a crucial ingredient for success.

Because just look at the other end of the ice where they are averaging 3.45 goals per game under Head Coach Peter DeBoer, which is sixth-best in the NHL since Jan. 15.

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This was arguably the most complete game put together by the Vegas Golden Knights under DeBoer, and if they can bottle that formula and translate that to the rest of the regular season then they will be a force to be reckoned with going into the postseason.

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