Golden Knights End Home Losing Streak, Play Solid 60 Minutes En Route To 5-1 Win Over Nashville In Front Of 18,430
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The man who believes the Nashville Predators offer the best game experience in sports was sitting six rows off the ice at T-Mobile Arena for the Vegas Golden Knights-Predators game Saturday night.
It was about a half-hour before face-off and Predators President Sean Henry sauntered down a few rows in the aisle near the Vegas showgirls with the giant head gear standing next to the glass behind the Nashville goal.
Henry appreciated the Golden Knights embracing their market by blending the sexy showgirls into the pregame. Announced attendance was 18,430 — well above the VGK average of 18,300 and change.
“I like how they tie it into their market,” Henry said of the Vegas flavor such as the showgirls before the game. “Like us, the Golden Knights are not afraid to tie it back into their market. Our games are fun and their games are fun.”
It probably wasn’t fun for Henry to watch his team lose to the struggling VGK, which defeated Nashville soundly, 5-1, and ended a disappointing five-game home losing streak.
Plus, backup goalie Malcolm Subban was solid, stopping 29 of 30 shots.
Henry understood why VGK fans were disappointed with the team’s five-game home losing streak entering Saturday’s match because, he noted, their expectations are so high after the expansion team reached the Stanley Cup Finals in its inaugural season.
“It shows the expectations are to win every game,” Henry said. “They don’t know losing. But it’s a natural cycle. Nobody is going 82-0. And you’re going to be mad when you lose.”
Nashville and Las Vegas are often linked as hockey markets because both are warm-weather markets with new NHL teams based in entertainment-focused markets.
In fact, when the Golden Knights visited Nashville earlier this season, the Predators goofed on the VGK’s attention-grabbing pre-game show by having a knight character on the ice before a home game who received a bashing over the head by the guitar-wielding Predators’ mascot. Here’s a short refresher.
When the Preds visited Las Vegas a few weeks ago, the Knights made a subtle pre-game jab by razzing Nashville over its Western Conference best record banner when it was the VGK that actually won the conference championship.
After Saturday’s game, Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said the players were also disappointed in the home losses that were piling up.
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