Wednesday night’s game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Anaheim Ducks was a rout. Vegas came away with a much-needed 5-0 victory in their first game following a four-game road trip. After finishing the road trip with a 1-3 record, Vegas desperately needed a win, and boy did they get one.
Most of the first period was uneventful, but on their third power play of the period, Vegas struck. Defenseman Colin Miller corralled a puck at the Anaheim blue line and sent a shot toward goaltender John Gibson. Miller’s shot was redirected out front by Max Pacioretty and stopped by Gibson. Before Gibson could react to the rebound, Alex Tuch jammed it home for a rare Vegas power play goal at 17:42 of the first period. The 22-year old has been a bright spot for the Golden Knights since his return from injury and has quite possibly been their best player as of late. The goal was his fifth of the season. The period would end with a 1-0 score in favor of the Golden Knights. Vegas outshot the Ducks, 10-6 in the opening frame.
Alex Tuch (89) and Max Pacioretty (67) (USA Today)
Unlike the first period, the second started with a bang. Vegas center Cody Eakin scored just 25 seconds into the period. Max Pacioretty caused a turnover in the Vegas zone and got the puck to Alex Tuch. Tuch pushed the puck up the left wing and fed a streakin’ Eakin in the slot. Eakin beat Gibson to the glove side with a solid wrister to make the score 2-0 Vegas, his sixth goal of the season. Gibson uncharacteristically misplayed the shot and it was surely a goal he would like back. As I noted on Twitter (www.twitter.com/VGK_Buzz) on Monday, Cody Eakin had some noticeable jump in his step and some zip on his shots in practice. I was not surprised to see him on the scoresheet. With his second assist of the game, Pacioretty doubled his season point total, from two points to four.
Vegas’ next goal was a bit odd and came from an unlikely source, an Anaheim Duck and defenseman Nick Holden. Let me explain. Holden had the puck at the center of the blue line. He directed the puck toward the net, but it missed the target, came off the boards, and back out front. With Jonathan Marchessault in the vicinity, Adam Henrique of the Ducks swiped at the puck, knocking it past his own goalie Gibson. The goal was Holden’s second of the season, technically unassisted (sorry Adam, no point for you).
Following the Holden goal, Anaheim pulled Gibson, seemingly to get him out of the net and save him for their next game. He has carried the team early on, due to their overall lack of goal scoring and below average defense. Needing four goals to win, combined with the fact that the Ducks have only scored four or more goals twice this season, may have been the deciding factor in the Ducks essentially conceding the game to Vegas, with over half the game left to play. Don’t get me wrong, Ryan Miller is no slouch, but the message was loud and clear, Anaheim was waving the white flag.
Cody Eakin wasn’t too concerned with giving backup Ryan Miller a warm welcome. Although Miller has played well in his limited action, he was coming into a game cold and looked the part. Two minutes into Miller’s night, Eakin beat him shorthanded, with a backhand over the glove, for his second of the night and seventh of the season. Ryan Carpenter ended up with the puck after Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm broke his stick attempting a shot. Carpenter pushed the puck to Eakin who labored up the center of the ice. Eakin shielded the Ducks defense off and lifted the backhand over Miller, another goal that is stopped more than it connects. The assist was Carpenter’s third assist and overall point of the year. On the play, Eakin had no room to make a move and was simply gliding on his backhand; Miller had to know where that puck is going. Eakin has provided much-needed scoring for the Golden Knights, in the absence of Erik Haula and Paul Stastny.
Tomas Hyka would add another insurance goal 5:10 into the third, his first of the season, assisted by Tomas Nosek (1) and Holden (5). At that point, it was all academic, the game was over, but the clock was still running. Surprisingly, Anaheim showed good push in the third, but it was too little, too late. The newly debuted gold pads of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury would go on to record their first shut out, pushing him to the league lead in the category with three. Fleury was tasked with making 29 saves, in a game where Vegas was uncharacteristically outshot yet won. Although Fleury came away with the win, Miller had the goaltending highlight of the night, making a diving stop with his mask in the third period.
A lot of things went Vegas’ way in this one. The team looked better as a whole, but nothing really stood out as a major adjustment or change to forecast a huge turnaround on the horizon. Eakin’s second line, with Tuch and Pacioretty had their best game of the season, as a unit. Pacioretty recorded the two assists, Tuch finished with a goal and an assist, and Eakin recorded his two goals (granted one was on the PK). Tuch has been a point-per-game player in his 11 games since coming off the IR (5g, 6a). Tuch’s play is making the $4.75 million cap hit on his contract extension look like a steal.
With the win, Vegas improves to 8-10-1 (7th Pacific) while Anaheim slides to 8-9-3 (5th Pacific). Vegas now finds themselves three points behind Dallas for the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference playoff picture. It is too early to worry about playoff position, but Vegas certainly knows they are on the outside looking in. Taking it game-by-game, the Golden Knights can string some wins together and make a push up the standings. Their next attempt will come Friday, at home, welcoming back old friend David Perron and the St. Louis Blues (6-7-3, 7th Central). Puck drop is at 7pm inside the Fortress at the T-Mobile Arena. Following the game, the Golden Knights will be back on the road on a quick Western Canada trip that will bring the return of Nate Schmidt and games against Connor McDavid and former Golden Knight, James Neal.
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