Golden Knights Clinch Playoff Berth With Arizona Shootout Loss, But Slow Start Leads To 3-2 Loss To Minnesota Before Big Crowd Of 18,492
By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Well, at least the Vegas Golden Knights are returning to the postseason — and that means extra ticket revenue for a second-year franchise that is scoring high financial marks for everything from gate revenues to merchandise income to corporate sponsorships.
But the Knights backed into the playoffs Friday evening. The VGK lost to the Minnesota Wild, 3-2, but will be part of the race for the Stanley Cup thanks to the Arizona Coyotes shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.
After the game, Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and two-way fourth line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be ready for the playoffs after missing games due to nagging injuries. Here’s Gallant’s four-minute presser after the game.
The Knights drew a robust crowd of 18,492, nearly a couple hundred fans more than the average VGK crowd. There were also plenty of Minnesota Wild fans in the Big Ice House on the Strip.
A couple of recent big crowds have inched up the Golden Knights’ average game attendance to 18,313, which is filling T-Mobile Arena to 105.4 percent of capacity.
That percentage capacity is good for second in the National Hockey League, trailing only the Chicago Blackhawks. The Knights’ opponent Friday night — Minnesota — is a sliver behind the VGK with a 105.3 percent of attendance capacity at its home games. The Knights’ next home game is Monday when the Edmonton Oilers come to town.
The Golden Knights don’t have time to fret about the 3-2 loss Friday. Vegas is off to San Jose for a Saturday night game with the Sharks — the VGK’s likely first-round postseason opponent.
After the game, VGK center Paul Stastny said, “When you lose it’s nice to play right away.” Stastny scored both of the Golden Knights’ goals Friday. Here’s one of those goals and the celebration.
Reaching the playoffs is a big financial deal for the Golden Knights. Revenues go up. Playoff teams typically increase ticket prices in the 30 percent range and the seat prices also go up as the team moves from round to round.
The Knights also sell a lot more licensed merchandise thanks to the playoffs and the popular Las Vegas team has leverage to ask for new postseason corporate sponsorship deals such as a company’s name on the postseason playing ice at T-Mobile Arena.
Friday’s game saw the return of former Golden Knights defenseman Brad Hunt, a popular player who was known as a super nice guy but is playing more for Minnesota than during his days in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights also worked with the Las Vegas Lights FC soccer team to have cross-promotional fun at the Friday hockey game as Lights coach Eric Wynalda sounded the siren to start the game and the Lights’ mascot also joined the arena fortress stage.
The Lights soccer team has a ticket deal for Saturday night’s game at Cashman Field where their season ticket holders can buy a Lights jersey with a Golden Knights theme for $50 or fans can buy a ticket and get a Lights jersey with the VGK theme for $99.
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