By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
LVSportsBiz.com photos by Steve Rosenthal
Less than a minute remained in the Golden Knights’ 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers and lots of VGK fans had already left the building. To create more buzz in T-Mobile Arena, they showed VGK superfan Christopher “Warmies Guy” Green dancing on the jumbotron, but not even Warmies could reverse the inevitable.
The division-leading Oilers outplayed the Golden Knights on VGK’s home ice and came away with a 4-2 win thanks to two goals by their superstar, Connor McDavid, Saturday night.
Put simply, the Oilers beat the Knights at their own game — speed. The Oilers are now 15-7-3 for 33 points leading the Pacific Division, while the Knights are 11-10-4 for 26 points.
VGK coach Gerard Gallant was not pleased. His post-game comments spell out his displeasure. LVSportsBiz.com asked Gallant whether it was effort or execution: “Well it starts with effort. The biggest thing is effort, then the execution works. So, the execution wasn’t there tonight, I agree 100 percent, but it’s got to start with competing and battling and winning those battles and playing to get your nose dirty a little bit. And it’s not all the guys, it’s some guys. We’ve got to get more of a team game.”
VGK defenseman Shea Theodore, who scored a gorgeous goal by slipping through two Oilers defenders in period two, put it simply, “Not a good enough effort.” Here’s his postgame locker room comments:
Fellow defenseman Nick Holden noted the Oilers outplayed the Knights at what the VGK do best.
It was a big Saturday night crowd with attendance of 18,319 — above the team’s average attendance of 18,249 after 14 home games this season. There was a huge Oilers fan presence in the Big Ice House.
The Knights’ next home game is Friday when the Arizona Coyotes visit the Big Ice House.
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