Golden Knights Find New Lodging In San Jose After Fairmont In Downtown SJ Declares Bankruptcy; VGK Blank Sharks 4-0 Behind Fleury, Tuch Saturday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
What can you say? When the Vegas Golden Knights play the Sharks in San Jose, some crazy stuff goes down.
Remember the playoffs in 2019 and the major-penalty Game 7?
Well, on Friday, some surreal craziness during these COVID-19 times touched the Knights.
The operator of the downtown San Jose Fairmont Hotel filed for bankruptcy Friday and immediately shuttered the landmark hotel.
Not only were Fairmont’s workers caught off-guard.
So were the VGK, in town to play two back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks Friday and Saturday nights at SAP Center.
After checking in to the 805-room Fairmont — the NHL’s designated hotel for teams — Knights players and coaches had to pack their bags and scramble to another hotel after Fairmont filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy, according to multiple media reports.
“We got notified that our hotel was closing and we had to check out,” Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer during Saturday’s media session. “The hotel declared bankruptcy after out pre-game meal.”
Golden Knights defenseman Nick Holden said he felt for the Fairmont employees who apparently found out about the hotel closing when the VGK learned the news.
Faced with reduced revenues brought on by the COVID-19 coronavirus, Fairmont closed and hopes to re-open later this year.
The Knights play San Jose at 7:30 PM tonight.
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Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury returned to the starting line-up Saturday after Oscar Dansk started for the first time since 2019 on Friday night.
In a fast-moving first period, linemates Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson executed a sweet give-and-go with Stone notching a VGK goal with about five minutes left in the stanza.
After one period, the Golden Knights (15-4-1) led, 1-0.
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The Golden Knights took a 2-0 lead behind red-hot Alex Tuch, who scored his seventh goal in seven games. It was his 11th of the season.
Here’s some fan reactions via Twitter:
Driving to the net, Tuch then converted a backhander to give the VGK a 3-0 lead for his second tonight. He’ been a force during the past two weeks since the sweet spin-a-rama goal against Colorado in the Tahoe outdoor day/night game. It’s was Tuch’s eighth goal in the last seven games and his 12th of the season. Tuch’s last seven games:
The Knights led, 3-0, after two periods, with the VGK defensive team speed smothering the Sharks.
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VGK forward Reilly Smith took a feed from Misfits linemate Jonathan Marchessault and fired in his second goal in two games against San Jose to make it 4-0 midway through period three.
It was the Knights’ sixth straight win as the Vegas franchise improved to 16-4-1. There were no fans in SAP Center at San Jose because of COVID-19.
The Knights have the best winning percentage in the NHL. It’s Fleury’s league-leading fourth shutout of the season and his 65th career shutout.
And the Henderson Silver Knights have the best winning percentage in the American Hockey League at 10-1.
