Vegas Hockey Knight
Fansided

Vegas Golden Knights show their class to win Game 5 and advance

By Andrew Steele-Davis

The Vegas Golden Knights celebrate their victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round.
The Vegas Golden Knights celebrate their victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round. /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
Alec Martinez #23 of the Vegas Golden Knights (C) celebrates his power-play goal at 7:28 of the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks
Alec Martinez #23 of the Vegas Golden Knights (C) celebrates his power-play goal at 7:28 of the second period against the Chicago Blackhawks and is joined by William Karlsson #71 (L) and Nate Schmidt #88 (R) in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round. /

Notes & Stats

Here are some key stats from the game:

  • SOG – CHI: 26 – VGK: 39
  • FO% – CHI: 55% – VGK: 45%
  • PP – CHI: 0/1 – VGK: 1/1
  • PIM – CHI: 2 – VGK: 2
  • HITS – CHI: 34 – VGK: 39
  • BLKS – CHI: 19 – VGK: 18
  • GVA – CHI: 19 – VGK: 18

Here was the Official Scoring Summary from Game 5:

  • Jonathan Toews (5) – Kubalik (4), Saad (3) – 10:32 / 1st
  • Alex DeBrincat (2) – Strome (1), Murphy (4) – 18:19 / 1st
  • Max Pacioretty (1) – McNabb (2), Karlsson (3) – 19:29 / 1st
  • Mark Stone (4) – Karlsson (4), Pacioretty (1) – :57 / 2nd
  • Patrick Kane (2) – Caggiula (2) – 4:02 / 2nd
  • Alec Martinez (1) – PPG – Smith (5), Schmidt (4) – 7:28 / 2nd
  • Alex Tuch (4) – Marchessault (5), Theodore (3) – 1:34 / 3rd
Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores at 57 seconds of the second period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks
Mark Stone #61 of the Vegas Golden Knights scores at 57 seconds of the second period against Corey Crawford #50 of the Chicago Blackhawks in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round. /

Let’s quickly go over some notes from Game 5:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights became the first team to advance through to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after beating the Chicago Blackhawks in five games.
  • In doing so, the Golden Knights advanced to the Second Round of the postseason for the second time in three years, becoming just the third franchise in NHL history to earn at least one series win in two of its first three NHL seasons, joining the New York Rangers (1927-29) and the St. Louis Blues (1968-70). Over to you, Seattle Kraken.
  • The Golden Knights were the dominant team in this series and, although there are kinks to be ironed out, they always looked in control.
  • They resemble the LA Kings team of 2014 or the Blackhawks dynasty in that they can play a real heavy style of hockey, while having the firepower to just blow away teams.
  • In a nutshell, this Golden Knights team can do it all and I think it will be between Vegas and the Colorado Avalanche to come out of the West. Both teams are absolute wagons.
  • It was only Corey Crawford that prevented the Golden Knights from sweeping this series, with the Chicago goalie rolling back the clock in Game 4. If it wasn’t for him, we probably wouldn’t have needed a Game 5.
  • Robin Lehner made his fourth start of the series and he was solid, stopping 23 of the 26 shots he faced. He appears to be the No.1 starter in the eyes of Head Coach Peter DeBoer.
  • Max Pacioretty recorded his first points of the postseason, coming alive in Game with a goal and an assist. This was a big game for the veteran who has endured a slow start to the Playoffs, and Vegas will need him to be firing on all cylinders for Round 2.
  • William Karlsson also had a big night after recording a multi-point game with two assists, including a beautiful helper on Mark Stone’s goal in the second period.
  • That top line of Pacioretty, Karlsson and Stone was lights out in Game 5 and combined for five points, with Stone recording his 4th goal of the postseason.
  • Alec Martinez was an incredible pickup by the Golden Knights prior to the Trade Deadline, and his wealth of postseason experience was always going to be huge. And so it proved in Game 5 as Martinez beat Corey Crawford with a snipe to make it a tied game in the second period, while the veteran also logged 23:53 minutes of total ice time.
  • Brayden McNabb tallied his second assist of the Playoffs, while Reilly Smith (5), Nate Schmidt (4), Jonathan Marchessault (5) and Shea Theodore (3) also impacted the box score.
  • The encouraging sign is that the Golden Knights are getting contributions from their stars, as well as up and down the lineup which is a key ingredient for postseason success.
  • Quick note on Chicago; they sold off Robin Lehner at the Trade Deadline and were not expected to be here but I liked a lot of their game in this series. They have some exciting young pieces, including rookies Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubilak, and they have a foundation they can build upon now.
  • Vegas again lost the face-off battle (55%-45%), although they outhit the Blackhawks by a margin of 39-34.
  • The Golden Knights also went 1/1 on the power play, although they went 1/10 in the series overall. That will need to change if Vegas wants to get out of the West.
  • Shea Theodore led all Vegas Golden Knights skaters in total ice time with 24:43, with a +1 rating and seven shots on goal.
  • The Official Three Stars of the Night were: 1. Max Pacioretty 2. Alex Tuch 3. Alec Martinez

Let’s look at our Three Stars of the Game…

Home/Analysis