Vegas Golden Knights: Tuch’s brilliance, other takeaways from Avs win
Vegas Golden Knights, say hello to the No.1 seed in the Western Conference.
With the top seed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the line, the Vegas Golden Knights out duelled the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-3 Overtime win in Edmonton on Saturday.
It meant that the Golden Knights went a perfect 3-0-0 in the round-robin games after also beating the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues.
Robin Lehner got the start in goal to ensure that he and Marc-Andre Fleury both started two games apiece in the exhibition and round-robin contests.
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And Lehner made the save of the game in the first period to absolutely rob Mikko Rantanen with the opening frame finishing scoreless.
There was a glut of goals in the second period, however, and it was the Knights who drew first blood thanks to Jonathan Marchessault who tipped home a Shea Theodore shot from the point on the power play.
Nathan MacKinnon made it a tied game soon after before Nicolas Roy got on the board with a scrappy goal, although it looked as though it should have been awarded to Ryan Reaves.
Joonas Donskoi made it a tied game yet again in what was a crazy second period with both teams clearly desperate to take the top seed.
Both the Knights and the Avs continued to swap blows in the third period as Marchessault beat Philipp Grubauer with a filthy penalty shot, before J.T. Compher tied it up late to take the game to Overtime.
And, with plenty on the line, it was the Golden Knights who delivered thanks to Alex Tuch with the forward carrying the puck in on the rush before unleashing an absolute snipe past Grubauer to win the game and steal the top seed.
With the Vegas Golden Knights now on a collision course with the Chicago Blackhawks in Round 1, we had some takeaways from their final round-robin game…
1. Cometh the hour, cometh the man
What a turnaround this has been for Alex Tuch.
With his struggles prior to the sporting world going on hiatus due to COVID-19 well documented, Tuch was very much the wildcard for the Golden Knights heading into The Bubble.
Having struggled for secondary scoring throughout the 2019-20 regular season, the Knights needed Tuch to rebound from his injury-plagued year and rediscover the formula that saw him record 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 74 games in 74 games.
Well, their prayers have been answered.
In both the exhibition game against the Arizona Coyotes and the three round-robin contests, Tuch has been on fire.
The winger has clearly benefitted from a lengthy layoff and the extra rest has done him wonders.
His speed coupled with his intimidating size makes him a potent weapon, especially on the power play, while Tuch’s big release and shot was on display for all to see against the Avs.
After getting the puck in his own zone, Tuch carried the puck in on the rush before hammering an absolute unstoppable shot beyond Philipp Grubauer for the OT winner.
It was a hell of a shot and it was also Tuch’s third goal of the postseason and the Golden Knights will need Alex Tuch at the peak of his powers for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially if Max Pacioretty continues to be absent.
2. Theodore for Conn Smythe?
Okay, maybe we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here but Shea Theodore is currently riding a rapid trajectory to being one of the best offensive defensemen in the entire National Hockey League.
After carving out a career-year during the regular season, the 25-year-old has picked up where he left off in Edmonton.
And we saw against the Colorado Avalanche why Theodore will be a key cog in the Golden Knights machine during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The blueliner had two assists on the night, unleashing a bomb from the point that was tipped in by Jonathan Marchessault on the power play, before firing a hell of a pass over to Nicolas Roy for Vegas’ second goal of the day.
And Theodore should have had a third assist after producing a stellar pass that set Marchessault free behind the Avalanche defense, before the latter was tripped by Ryan Graves that led to a penalty shot.
Overall, Theodore finished with two points, four shots on goal and two blocked shots in 24:05 minutes of total ice time.
His passing is really something special and you need an absolute horse on the backend who can make things happen in order to contend for championships.
It was another masterful outing by the defenseman who has established himself as the leading quarterback on the top power play unit for Vegas, and you have to think that he could be in the Conn Smythe conversation should the Golden Knights achieve their ultimate goal this year.
3. Abundance of riches
Head Coach Peter DeBoer should be the envy of every other coach involved in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After all, what other team can claim that they have two legit elite starters at their disposal?
The Vegas Golden Knights certainly can.
With one exhibition game and three round-robin contests, DeBoer opted to split the workload between Marc-Andre Fleury and Robin Lehner.
It was a smart move in regards to keeping both goalies fresh and allowing them to shake off any rust, while also seeing if either goalie had the slight edge.
Well, both netminders looked sharp in the two games they played and Lehner certainly gave DeBoer plenty of food for thought in the win against the Avs.
The 29-year-old stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced, with the highlight being an absolutely stunning glove stop to rob Mikko Rantanen in the first period.
He was huge when he needed to be and his big size, coupled with his ability to play deep within his crease, makes Lehner a real rare but valuable commodity in the NHL.
And Lehner’s strong outing against Colorado should only be seen as a huge positive heading into Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Because, while Fleury is expected to be named the starter against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Golden Knights at least know that they can turn to Lehner at any given moment and not miss a beat.
Next. Tuch the hero in OT. dark
And, after being traded by the Blackhawks to Vegas at the Trade Deadline, expect Robin Lehner to play with a real chip on his shoulder against his former team should he be given the chance.
And that is only good news for the Vegas Golden Knights who have the luxury of drawing up a masterplan for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with two elite goalies at their disposal.