”Ain’t no party like a West Coast party!”
- Coolio
With an East Coast road trip on the docket, the Vegas Golden Knights planned a watch party for their weekend game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This wasn’t just a normal, ordinary watch party; this watch party took place at Las Vegas Ballpark, the home of the Aviators, AAA affiliate of the Oakland Athletics.
Seats in the outfield, game on the scoreboard
Built in 2018, the Las Vegas Ballpark features state-of-the art amenities, technology, and comfort. Fans were able to watch the Golden Knights’ road win from the outfield grass or the mesh-backed seats along the first base line. Concessions were open, music was blasting, and the fans were engaged. What was a road-trip watch party felt like a home game at the T-Mobile Arena.
Chance was in the house!
Supplementing the natural energy of a hockey game, the Golden Knights’ entertainment staff made sure there was plenty to get excited about. Wayne “Big D” Danielson (95.5 FM and In-Arena Host), Mark Shunock (In-Arena Host, Monday’s Dark), and Chance the Mascot made the trip. The voice of the T-Mobile Arena (Twitter: @PA_Bruce) could be heard throughout the clear Summerlin sky, with full-on Golden Knights introductions and goal announcements. With “John Wick Mode” blaring through the stadium at the start of the game, the T-Mobile Arena’s game night environment was successfully replicated.
There was plenty of excitement all night. Prior to the start of the game, currently-injured Alex Tuch headed to the pitcher’s mound and threw out the “First Puck”. Kids and even some parents frequented the face painting station. UNLV’s hockey program was represented with a station of their own. My personal favorite feature was the interactive area, where you could shoot pucks at an unusually stationary Marc-Andre Fleury.
Fleury gave up more goals on the concourse than he did in Pittsburgh.
Beautiful weather – 78 degrees and sunny – set up for a beautiful night for the Golden Knights faithful, despite a not-so-beautiful game from the team.
Even though the Vegas Golden Knights took the win, by a score of 3-0, the Penguins were the more threatening team for most of the game. Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head, securing all-time win No. 100 for the Golden Knights, in his first game action in Pittsburgh playing for the opposition. Most stats will tell the tale of this game, it was all Pittsburgh except where it matters: the scoreboard.
Natural Stat Trick Corsi Chart (5-on-5):
Natural Stat Trick Heat Maps (5-on-5):
Even in their losses, the Golden Knights typically outshoot their opponents by a wide margin. Corsi numbers are so crucial because they show which team is generating the most shot attempts, not just limiting the stat to shots on goal. In their 3-0 win, the Golden Knights lost the Corsi battle (5-on-5) by a wide margin (45-27). Simply put, the team didn’t generate enough offense. In the second period, the Golden Knights threatened the Penguins with 3:26 of Power Play time, resulting in a Paul Stastny PPG. The rookie sensation Cody Glass found Stastny wide open, giving the veteran one of the easiest goals he’s ever scored.
William Karlsson and Mark Stone would go on to add empty-net goals in the waning moments of the game. Penguins backup goaltender Tristan Jarry played well in Matt Murray’s place. He wasn’t forced to make the high-quality stops Fleury was tasked with, but he did exactly what a team needs out of their backup. He made the necessary saves and was generally solid. Glass’ pass on the Stastny goal was so good that he had no shot at stopping it.
Jake Bischoff finally made his NHL debut, despite spending plenty of time with the team last season (USA Today Sports)
Jake Bischoff, who was recently called up by the Golden Knights, suited up for his first-ever NHL game. Bischoff played very well, which isn’t a surprise, considering he is a responsible defensive-minded d-man by nature. He was at his best on the penalty kill, which has surprisingly been an area of strength for the Golden Knights thus far this season. He finished the game with a defense-leading Corsi For Rel of 8.78%. Relative stats are a good way to show individual contribution, which is important for a guy in Bischoff’s position.
Fellow rookie defenseman Nic Hague was the inexplicable healthy scratch, as Bischoff slotted in his vacated spot alongside Deryk Engelland. It’s hard to argue that Engelland, not Hague, should have been the player replaced by Bischoff. Hague has looked good despite Engelland’s struggles and last night, Bischoff also outplayed the veteran. With so many chances going the other way nightly, it is only a matter of time before he runs out of leash and gets a scratch. With Nate Schmidt’s status up in the air (week-to-week), the Golden Knights defense will be a situation worth monitoring.
With the win, their second-straight, the Golden Knights improved to 6-3-0. Their next game comes on the opposite side of Pennsylvania, when they visit Gritty and the Philadelphia Flyers. The last game of the quick road trip will be in Chicago, before the team returns home for a Nevada Day celebration with the Central Division leading Colorado Avalanche.
Make sure you go check out (and subscribe!) to my Podcast, The Vegas Hockey Buzz, for my Post-Game discussion from the LV Ballpark. The podcast is available on all podcast platforms! A weekly episodic format, that will be dropping on Monday mornings, is being added soon!
Subscribe to the YouTube page if you want to see the Post-Game videos and future exciting Vegas Golden Knights content!
As always, Twitter is where I'm most active.
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»