Vegas Golden Knights deliver when it matters most against Oilers
It was potentially a defining night for the Vegas Golden Knights who tightened their grip on the Pacific Division after shutting out the Edmonton Oilers in a huge 3-0 win at T-Mobile Arena.
In what was arguably the biggest game of the year for the Vegas Golden Knights given what was riding on it, this team delivered once again as they ripped off a seventh-straight win.
Marc-Andre Fleury was absolutely huge as he stood on his head to stop all 29 shots flung in his direction, securing the 61st shutout of his career as a result.
Max Pacioretty recorded his 30th goal of the year while Nick Cousins became the latest in a long line of players to light the lamp on their Golden Knights debut.
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And Shea Theodore iced the game in the third period with a wicked one-timer from the point, with the Knights extending their lead at the top of the Pacific to four points over both the Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks.
The Game
First Period – With Nick Cousins in the lineup making his debut and Marc-Andre Fleury getting the start in net, the Vegas Golden Knights were looking to deliver on the biggest stage.
However, it was the Oilers who seemed to grasp the importance of this game as they absolutely dominated the first period.
Fleury was called upon just 25 seconds in as he absolutely robbed Leon Draisaitl with the pad, before going on to make two more big stops in what was a crazy sequence.
Connor McDavid, Alex Chiasson and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were all thwarted by Fleury, while McDavid pinged a shot off the crossbar.
The Oilers were outshooting the Golden Knights 12-9 and had 3:23 minutes of possession in the offensive zone, compared to the 1:26 Vegas spent in the Edmonton zone.
However, despite being outplayed and outclassed, the Knights were able to land the first blow of the night.
Max Pacioretty got the puck in his own zone before driving down the wing and ripping an unstoppable shot through Edmonton goalie Mikko Koskinen at 16:04.
It was Pacioretty’s 30th goal of the year and it marked the sixth season in his career that the forward had reached the 30-goal plateau.
Second Period – Nick Cousins was bumped down to the fourth-line between Ryan Reaves and William Carrier and it worked, given that the Golden Knights were much better in the middle frame.
Vegas controlled the play for most of the period and held a massive advantage on the shot board, outshooting the Oilers 16-5.
Both goalies were red hot, though, and Pacioretty’s 30th goal of the year was the only one on the board heading into the final period.
Third Period – It didn’t take long for the Golden Knights to double their lead and it was thanks to the new guy.
As has become somewhat of a tradition this year, Nick Cousins became the sixth player this year to score on his Vegas Golden Knights debut after backhanding a shot on the rebound past Koskinen on the power play.
Cousins joined Cody Glass, Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephenson, Alec Martinez and Patrick Brown in lighting the lamp in their first game as a Golden Knight.
And the game was iced at 9:59 as Paul Stastny won the faceoff in the offensive zone, Martinez dished Shea Theodore the puck and the defenseman unleashed an absolute bomb from the point past Koskinen.
There was still time for another highlight-reel save from Marc-Andre Fleury, who somehow kept out a shot from Connor McDavid while down on the ice.
This was a huge win for the Vegas Golden Knights who have now ripped off seven straight, and they are absolutely rolling right now.
Let’s go over some notes & stats from the game…