Guess what happened on Monday? The Buffalo Sabres actually won a hockey game.
It's hard to believe, but they did it. The Sabres convincingly defeated the New York Islanders, 7-1. It snapped a 13-game winless streak, giving fans an early Christmas gift. Call it a Festivus Miracle! However, hockey fans in Las Vegas have much more to celebrate.
If you're the Vegas Golden Knights, you've received plenty of fun gifts to start the season. You're one of the league's best teams and dominating the competition. You're also in a relaxing 10-game stretch while playing excellent hockey (8-2-0 in their last 10 games before Monday's contest against the Anaheim Ducks).
Therefore, you've received numerous gifts from the NHL gods this season. Jack Eichel is becoming the superstar player everyone expected him to be. That's the biggest gift for the Golden Knights for many reasons. But he's not the only gift the team has received so far.
After all, the Golden Knights wouldn't have been in first place in the Pacific Division with 49 points on Eichel alone. Other moving factors have benefitted the team, such as Adin Hill's incredible month of December (2.20 GAA, save percentage of .923, and a shutout in December entering Monday's game) and a stronger bottom-six forward group.
For example, Keegan Kolesar has played extremely well as a fourth-line winger this season. Before Monday's game, he scored eight goals and five assists and is projected to score 20 goals in a season. But he's not the only present the Golden Knights have gotten. Here are three other gifts for Vegas this Christmas season.
Surprisingly good players on the wing
When Victor Olofsson was signed to a one-year, $1.075 million deal with the Golden Knights this past summer, the premise was he'd prove himself for a new contract. Considering names like Brett Howden (13 goals) and Shea Theodore (24 assists) got contract extensions during the season, it'd make sense to hand the Swedish winger a new deal as well.
How? He scored seven goals and three assists in 13 games before Monday's contest. That included four power play goals, enhancing the power play to becoming the league's fifth-best unit (26.9% entering Monday). But he's not the only winger who's carried the scoring.
Before suffering an upper-body injury last Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, Ivan Barbashev had 15 goals (team-best). Mark Stone (seven goals, 21 assists) and Pavel Dorofeyev (12 goals) have also been terrific, adding more scoring options for the Golden Knights.
Fans were worried about Jonathan Marchessault's production being lost in the ether forever. After all, it's not easy replacing 42 goals in a season. However, the Golden Knights are doing just fine without the "Original Misfit," finding wing options from every player possible.