Somewhere, a dude in Edmonton named Phil is trembling in fear at the thought of a John Tortorella-led Vegas Golden Knights team playing the Oilers. He realizes that perhaps the Golden Knights players actually hated Bruce Cassidy that much and are playing with more emotion. That's why the Golden Knights defeated the Oilers on Saturday, 5-1.
Goals from Jeremy Lauzon (his first!), Colton Sissons, Brett Howden, Mark Stone, and Rasmus Andersson did the job as Vegas goes to 3-0-0 under the new head coach. Not only that, but Carter Hart had a terrific game against Edmonton, stopping 31 of 32 shots.
What's more is that the Golden Knights have a favorable schedule ahead of them. Entering Saturday, only the Colorado Avalanche were in a playoff position (they've clinched, in fact). Sure, there are lurking teams such as the Seattle Kraken and the Winnipeg Jets. However, this team has suddenly won three in a row.
That should count for something as the team inches closer to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let's look at the dominating win on Saturday and see what stood out the most from the Golden Knights. There's plenty of praise to be thrown around, so buckle up, dear reader!
The Vegas Golden Knights finally get some solid goaltending on Saturday, thanks to Carter Hart
On a night where the Golden Knights were going up against a good offensive team, Vegas desperately needed a big goaltending performance. "Ask, and you shall receive," said Carter Hart, as he had a terrific game against the Edmonton Oilers.
The former Flyers goaltender stopped 31 shots and posted a save percentage of .969. Yes, some people are going to say that Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl were out for the night. However, does that really matter when you still have offensive weapons that you must watch out for?
Like, we're talking about Evan Bouchard (who scored a goal on Saturday, mind you) and the obvious name in Connor McDavid. That should amount to something, helping Vegas get a big win against a playoff-position team. On top of that, you inch closer to the Pacific Division crown, which is absolutely big.
The Golden Knights are starting to find their scoring touch
The past three games have seen an offensive awakening from the Golden Knights. They've scored 15 goals in that span, getting more offensive output from key guys. Again, we're talking about Lauzon getting his first goal. We're also talking about a balanced attack where five different players get a goal.
Yes, Edmonton is mediocre at stopping pucks. But you could tell that this was a problem before Tortorella came to town. Now, Vegas is playing a north-south style and is attacking the net. Tortorella strongly emphasizes attacking the net and the Golden Knights got 33 shots on goal.
As I listened to the postgame, Gary Lawless talked about how Vegas defeated a big division rival. That should mean something for the team heading down the stretch. That's especially true if the offense picks it up before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.