Vegas Golden Knights put in solid effort to take Game 1 over Blackhawks

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Shea Theodore #27 of the Vegas Golden Knights shoots against the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period in Game One of the Western Conference First Round. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

Notes & Stats

Here are some key stats from the game…

SOG – CHI: 20 – VGK: 34
FO% – CHI: 55% – VGK: 45
PP – CHI: 0/2 – VGK: 0/2
PIM – CHI: 4 – VGK: 4
HITS – CHI: 20 – VGK: 35
BLKS – CHI: 12 – VGK: 18
GVA – CHI: 11 – VGK: 16

Here was the Official Scoring Summary from the game:

Shea Theodore (3) – Smith (3), Martinez (1) – 7:22 / 2nd
William Carrier (2) – Reaves (3), Roy (3) – 9:39 / 2nd
David Kampf (1) – SHG – Saad (2) – 10:51 / 2nd
Reilly Smith (1) – Marchessault (1) – 3:32 / 3rd
Reilly Smith (2) – Marchessault (2) – 8:14 / 3rd

William Carrier #28 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores a goal Corey Crawford #50 and Matthew Highmore #36 of the Chicago Blackhawks during the second period in Game One of the Western Conference First Round. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /

Let’s go over some notes from Game 1:

The Vegas Golden Knights lead this series 1-0 with Game 2 slated for Thursday – puck drops at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Robin Lehner got the Game 1 start over Marc-Andre Fleury and was solid, making 19 saves from the 20 shots he faced.
However, Lehner will need to adjust his equipment after his left skate blade popped out twice during the game.
There was a lack of intensity in the first period which can be understood given the lack of fans, but it certainly picked up in the second period and beyond.
Shea Theodore recorded his third goal of the postseason and was impressive despite committing a turnover for Chicago’s goal, finishing with a +2 in 20:45 minutes of total ice time.
Speaking of which, it was a bad mistake by Theodore that led to a shorthanded goal, but it isn’t often you see the defenseman cough up a turnover like that.
William Carrier recorded his second goal of the postseason, with both Ryan Reaves and Nicolas Roy tallying their third helper of the Playoffs on the goal.
Reilly Smith set a career-high in goals with 27 during the regular-season and he was red hot against the Hawks, recording a three-point night with two crucial goals in the third period. Smith maintaining his golden touch will be crucial for the Golden Knights throughout the postseason.
Both teams went 0/2 on the power play in a game that wasn’t ravaged by a wealth of penalties, although the Blackhawks did score a shorthanded goal while they looked dangerous on the man advantage.
Vegas controlled play for most of the game and outshot Chicago 34-20, and they limited the Hawks to just four high-danger chances.
The third period has been kind to the Golden Knights in The Bubble so far. In five games, including the exhibition matchup against the Arizona Coyotes, the Knights have outscored their opponents 10-1 in the third period of games.
Alec Martinez picked up his first assist of the postseason with a secondary helper on Shea Theodore’s goal, and the veteran’s wealth of experience will be crucial for the Golden Knights in the postseason.
Chicago did get the edge in the faceoff circle by winning 55 percent of their draws, although the Golden Knights had more hits (35-20) and more blocked shots (18-12).
Max Pacioretty looked solid in his first game back and finished with a -1 in 18:08 minutes of total ice time. The forward should look a lot sharper once he gets into this series more.
There are still kinks to be ironed out for the Golden Knights but this was a solid game and if they maintain their current level of play then they should be able to handle the Blackhawks for the rest of the series.
Veteran defenseman Alec Martinez led all Vegas Golden Knights skaters in total ice time with 20:58.
The Official Three Stars of the Game were: 1. Reilly Smith 2. Jonathan Marchessault 3. Robin Lehner

Let’s go over our Three Stars of the Game…

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