By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Knight Nation can sleep well tonight. For one night, the Golden Knights looked like the team that advanced to last season’s Stanley Cup Finals. And free donuts.
Donuts.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, flashing his golden pads, shut down the Anaheim Ducks as the Golden Knights skated to a 5-0 win over their division foe.
As usual this season, it was another standing room only sellout at the Ice House on the Strip, with announced attendance at 18,111 on Military Appreciation Night at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights are filling T-Mobile Arena to 105 percent of capacity.
It’s been an inconsistent season for the Golden Knights, who have been without stalwart defender Nate Schmidt due to a 20-game PED suspension and several key forwards lost to injury such as new Golden Knights’ centerman Paul Stastny.
But on Wednesday, it was like the good, ol’ days of 2017-18, as Fleury threw a shutout and delivered free Krispy Kreme donuts to the masses in attendance.
Alex Tuch impressed with a goal and a set-up for one of Cody Eakin’s two goals. Most of third period was spent pondering whether Eakin would perform a hat trick for the evening or whether Flower would rain donuts upon the VGK faithful. Eakin didn’t score his third goal, but Fleury did bring home the free donuts for the fans in attendance Wednesday.
Fans walked out happy on a night that began with the Golden Knights sporting a mediocre 7-10-1 record.
But Cameron Hughes, the T-shirt-tossing fan igniter, was back in town stripping off shirts and tossing them to fans, while Saskatchewan’s favorite sons Justin Reves and Greg Moore also arrived from North of the Border to add their levity to Las Vegas. It was the first time back for Justin and Greg since last season and they feel they did their job.
“The curse is broken,” said one of the two guys.
ADVERTISEMENT
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com publisher/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com