Everyone was talking about Ivan Barbashev's goals in Wednesday's "Mammoth" (waka waka) win over, well, the Utah Mammoth. The Russian winger scored a highlight-reel goal in the second period, marking his second goal of the game. However, his first was just as noteworthy.
Olofsson gets the puck and tries to shoot it. The only problem is that he whiffs on the shot, which eventually scoots over to Barbashev on the back door. The Russian winger buries it home and the Golden Knights get another on the board.
But it's the funny exchange after the game that made things even better. What did Barbashev say after Olofsson's swing-and-a-miss that led to said goal?
"I don't care what anyone says, he was passing."Ivan Barbashev on Victor Olofsson
But Olofsson wasn't buying the take. Instead, he had the most hilarious four-word response to Barbashev's claim and stated his true intentions.
"Unfortunately, I was not."Victor Olofsson
Regardless, a goal is a goal and the Golden Knights have a 5-3 win. Vegas gets another win against a playoff position team and moves one step closer to proving that their Stanley Cup Final appearance last season was no joke. The haters are in shambles right now.
Still, the humorous exchange shows that everythig is good within the Realm. The Golden Knights have won four straight games and are back to being the dominant team that they're accustomed to being. On top of that, they got an offensive explosion that they've been craving for weeks. In turn? A dominant team that shows that anybody can score goals, whether it's Barbashev or Olofsson.
Ivan Barbashev and Victor Olofsson's hilarious post-game exchange shows a lighter side of the Vegas Golden Knights
People chide the Golden Knights for being cutthroat while cutting beloved players from the organization. They'll cite instances such as Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Marchessault as examples. Of course, most of them don't have their facts straight on the whole "lack of loyalty" angle. But that notion also gets put to rest with the latest humorous exchange.
Winning is the ultimate antidote for everything in a locker room. You see that firsthand with the Dallas Cowboys, who've had all sorts of dysfunction during their decades-long NFC Championship drought. In turn, you get reality-television drama with a geriatric oil businessman and a team that has no business getting said attention. If only they had an owner who cared about winning Super Bowls more than being on the television screen.
Anyway, winning is the antidote to everything happening to the Golden Knights right now. They're back to dominating teams after a heartbreaking Stanley Cup Final loss last season and are doing it without key names. Think of Pavel Dorofeyev as a shining example.
In turn, the fans are happy and still support the team. When you give fans a winning product like Bill Foley has, fruitful exchanges like this pop up. Light-hearted takes like this prove that the Golden Knights are a winning organization that can shake off simple gaffes.
The truth is that Golden Knights fans wouldn't have it any other way. They'll take a winger getting his linemate's six and burying a puck on the back door. They'll also take making Stanley Cup Final appearances over feckless drama any day of the week.
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