Marc-Andre Fleury is back!
After an injury scare earlier this week, Flower re-joined the team in Colorado today, and emergency recall Oscar Dansk was sent back to Chicago.
Oh hey
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 23, 2018
Look at that
🌸
IS
BACK
ON
THE
ICE
😄 pic.twitter.com/1XBTvqQiJQ
Marc-Andre Fleury said he spent the past few days getting caught up on "Days of Our Lives."
— David Schoen 📰🗞🏒 (@DavidSchoenLVRJ) March 23, 2018
"I'd be watching Storage Wars or something like that," Gerard Gallant said. #VegasBorn
***
The Golden Knights reached the century mark with 100 points, as they escaped the Shark Tank with a 2-1 OT loss.
After the opening frame, San Jose dominated Vegas in all situations: 31-14 shots, 31-9 scoring chances, and 13-2 High-danger Corsi For, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The only thing between the Sharks and a regulation win was Malcolm Subban, who made 42 stops in his first start since February 2nd. In terms of save %, this was the second-best Golden Knights goaltending performance this season, just behind Fleury's 44 saves on 46 shots in the season opener.
CHAOS IN FRONT OF THE VEGAS NET. pic.twitter.com/theLOWircc
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) March 23, 2018
SUBBAN SAYS NO pic.twitter.com/lXQaxfJyq1
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) March 23, 2018
Robbery! pic.twitter.com/Fp0Zaw6xol
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) March 23, 2018
SUUUUUUUB pic.twitter.com/HRJhX9ZRM2
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) March 23, 2018
This man is our savior. pic.twitter.com/pvWhRtuZuW
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) March 23, 2018
The Golden Knights raced ahead in the first, spearheaded by a 5-1 5v5 High-danger chances edge. This Tomas Tatar marker was the highlight:
Being too puck-focused is a killer.
On the half-wall, Justin Braun takes a peek at Jonathan Marchessault tightroping the blueline. In that split second, Tatar outquicks him to the front, Marchessault makes a gorgeous dish under Logan Couture's stick, and it's 1-0.
Minuses
There's a lot of bad Vegas video, but Brent Burns's tying goal in the second period covers a lot of it.
Both Gallant and James Neal bemoaned the turnovers in the second period, which fed San Jose's counterattack.
At this point, the Sharks' forecheck, which hemmed the Golden Knights in for most of the night, fires up.
Ryan Carpenter has clear possession in the corner coming out, tries to go up the middle, and Couture is on top of him. A pinching Brenden Dillon beats Nate Schmidt to a loose puck.
Now it's Jannik Hansen's turn on the right wall, as his footwork leaves Tuch well on the wrong side of the puck. Then on the left wall, Hansen evades Schmidt.
Meanwhile, San Jose had held the puck for so long, a fresh Burns is able to jump on the ice. He retrieves the puck in the corner, Barclay Goodrow picks Carpenter, and Burns has the space to fire it. Subban turns him away this time, but Eric Fehr's long stick beats Brayden McNabb to the rebound. The puck is back to the right point and Hansen.
Hansen goes D to D to Dillon. This action opens up the top for Burns:
Burns times his shot as Fehr and Goodrow meet in front (with McNabb and Schmidt) to quadruple screen Subban.
Before we pound on Vegas's errors here, let's give San Jose a full round of applause for some beautiful hockey: The Dylan DeMelo bounce pass off the boards to Couture to jumpstart transition after Tuch's turnover. Their hustle to loose pucks. Hansen putting Tuch and Schmidt through the torture chamber. The Goodrow pick to open up space for Burns to pop out of the corner -- a play that the Sharks love by the way, as evidenced by their two interference penalties last night on similar plays. Hansen's D to D pass to open up seams. Fehr and Goodrow crossing like two ships in the night in front of Subban just as Burns blasts away...
As for the Golden Knights, puck management in the neutral zone, not getting the puck deep, going through the middle on the breakout without being 100% sure, getting caught on the wrong side of the puck defensively, losing one-on-one battles, and getting beat to the puck all over the ice kicks off a long list of things to improve during tomorrow afternoon's meeting with the Avalanche.
Going back to the initial Tuch turnover -- you hit the stretch connection, great. But you miss it, don't get the puck deep as a result, and it's a miserable shift going the other way, even without Burns scoring.
Vegas walks a line every game between playing boldly and trying to avoid mistakes. As we've mentioned before, Gallant wants his team thinking aggressively. This shift was an example of the ugly side of it, which we haven't seen too much this season.
***
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