Vegas Hockey Knight
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Vegas Golden Knights: Dreaming About What If

By Andrew Steele-Davis

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 17: Ryan Reaves #75 and Tomas Nosek #92 of the Vegas Golden Knights take to the ice for a game against the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena on February 17, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Capitals 3-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - FEBRUARY 17: Ryan Reaves #75 and Tomas Nosek #92 of the Vegas Golden Knights take to the ice for a game against the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena on February 17, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Capitals 3-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Kyle Turris of the Nashville Predators skates with the puck against Deryk Engelland of the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on October 15, 2019.
Kyle Turris of the Nashville Predators skates with the puck against Deryk Engelland of the Vegas Golden Knights in the third period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on October 15, 2019. /

The Playoffs

Having rested Marc-Andre Fleury down the stretch, the future Hall of Famer was fully recharged and ready to go against the Nashville Predators in the First Round of the Western Conference.

And it paid off as Fleury was sensational with the Golden Knights making light work of the Predators in five games.

Next up was the Edmonton Oilers and this was an absolutely doozy of a series, with the Knights having to go the distance.

Spearheaded by the dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers proved to be tricky customers and those two alone threatened to take the series away from Vegas at times.

However, the Golden Knights have stars of their own and it was Mark Stone who emerged as the hero after potting the Game 7 winner in overtime to cap off a thrilling series.

There were tougher tests ahead, though.

Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche walks to the ice for practice prior to the 2020 NHL Stadium Series game against the Los Angeles Kings at Falcon Stadium on February 14, 2020.
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche walks to the ice for practice prior to the 2020 NHL Stadium Series game against the Los Angeles Kings at Falcon Stadium on February 14, 2020. /

Because, waiting for them in the Western Conference Finals was the surging Colorado Avalanche who had all their main weapons back healthy.

Led by Nathan MacKinnon, who was on pace to enter the Conn Smythe Trophy race, the Avalanche were rolling and they also got huge contributions from 2019-20 Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar.

And it was Makar who fired the game-winner past Marc-Andre Fleury in overtime of Game 2 to give the Avalanche control of the series.

But, inspired by some William Karlsson magic in Game 3, the Golden Knights ripped off three straight wins to stun Colorado and stand on the precipice of making the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in three years.

However, their work wasn’t quite done as Nathan MacKinnon recorded a five point night, including a hat trick, in Game 6 to force a Game 7.

That set up a thrilling finale as both MacKinnon and Stone registered a hat trick in what was rapidly developing into a track meet, before Jonathan Marchessault made it a tied game after Makar had beaten Fleury on the power play.

Then, given a power play of their own, the Golden Knights delivered when it really mattered most as Max Pacioretty tipped in a Shea Theodore shot from the point with mere minutes of an exhilarating contest remaining.

The scenes as the Golden Knights bench poured onto the ice to celebrate making the Stanley Cup Final was a joy to behold, and they moved a step closer to winning the first championship in franchise history.

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning in action during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on February 22, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona.
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning in action during the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on February 22, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. /

Now, it would be easy to just say that, given this is make-believe-land, the Golden Knights would go on to lift Lord Stanley.

However, in this scenario, Vegas came up against a loaded Tampa Bay Lightning team who finally vanquished their demons from the year before.

Riding a red hot goalie in Andrei Vasilevski, who would go on to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, the Lightning got contributions from up and down the lineup to win the Stanley Cup after beating the Golden Knights in six games.

It was another heartbreaker for Vegas but they proved that they had all the pieces needed to make another run at the Stanley Cup in 2020-21.

Shea Theodore had a postseason to remember after recording 16 points, although Mark Stone led the team in points and game-winners, underlining his importance to the franchise.

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