Golden Knights Drop 3-1 Decision To Kings In LA Sunday Afternoon, Return To Las Vegas To Face Blues Monday
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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
During this unique NHL 56-game pandemic season, the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday started the second half of their season during the first weekend of March Madness on the second day of spring.
That’s how the National Hockey League is rolling during these COVID-19 times, when the Golden Knights — like 30 other clubs — are dealing with COVID protocol lists and false positive test results (see Marc-Andre Fleury and William Karlsson).
It’s a crammed regular season as the Golden Knights start a stretch of 28 games in less than 50 days for a season that ends May 7 and 8 with home games against the St. Louis Blues — a one-year-only division rival.
During the first 28 games, the VGK earned a sparkling 21-6-1 record, good for first in the West Division.
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The condensed schedule required a team with two good goalies and the Knights hope their pair in Robin Lehner and Fleury gives them an edge over the seven other teams in a division re-shaped during the pandemic season.
Fleury receive the start at Staples Center for Sunday’s 3 PM game against the Los Angeles Kings. Lehner, back in the lineup after suffering a concussion, got the win Friday when the Knights defeated the Kings, 4-2.
The Knights and Kings played a scoreless first period as Vegas hit the ice without its top scorer, Max Pacioretty (16 goals), out of action with a lower-body injury.
Alex Tuch was elevated to the Golden Knights’ first line to replaced Pacioretty’s spot alongside centerman Chandler Stephenson and team captain Mark Stone.
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The Golden Knights will have 3,473 fans back at T-Mobile Arena Monday night when Vegas hosts St. Louis for a 7 PM start. That’s 20 percent of the fan attendance capacity, which is considered 17,357 for the number of fixed seats in the venue just a short walk from the Strip.
While Gov. Steve Sisolak upped the large gathering capacity to 50 percent in Nevada, it’s not so simple to throw open the doors of T-Mobile Arena and have half of 17,367 seats be filled.
Team President Kerry Bubolz said the team still has to keep fans six feet apart in the venue and is considering the idea of requiring fans to show confirmation of being vaccinated for the novel coronavirus as part of the proposal to increase the attendance capacity. But that’s just an idea at this point. The team does want to submit a proposal to state business and local health officials to increase capacity for April.
When LVSportsBiz.com hears anything new on the VGK fan attendance capacity issue, we will let you know.
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In period two in LA today, Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar and the King’s Austin Wagner dropped the gloves and went after it. Kolesar delivered a few body shots and Wagner hit the ice.
The Kings then scored the game’s first goal after the Knights failed to clear the puck. There was some battling in front of Fleury and in the crease and discussion about potential goalie interference. Fleury was bumped into.
The refs ruled it was a good goal and no goalie interference, so the Knights were hit with a two-minute penalty after Sean Walker scored for LA.
Then, the Kings scored less than a minute later on the power play when veteran Dustin Brown notched his 14th of the season to give LA a 2-0 lead.
The period ended with the Kings leading, 2-0.
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The Golden Knights had a great chance to get back in the game when the Kings were hit with two penalties about 30 seconds apart and the VGK had a 5-on-3 advantage for about 90 seconds. Kings’ forward Jeff Carter went off the ice for tripping, then defenseman Drew Doughty was called for delay of game for removing the goal off its post.
Kings goalie Calvin Petersen thwarted the Knights on the Vegas two-man advantage and LA survived, still leading, 2-0, in the third. The Knights’ power play has not clicked this season, with the team in the bottom third in the NHL in power play goal percentage. The Knights’ Alex Pietrangelo, a key cog on the power play, is still out with an injury.
Vegas did score with less than four minutes left in the period after Petersen made the initial save on VGKer Tomas Nosek, with the puck going off Nosek and the goalie into the net to make it a 2-1 game in favor of LA.
But Carter responded with a Kings goal on a breakaway to restore the LA two-goal lead, making it a 3-1 advantage with 2 1/2 minutes left.
That’s the way the game ended: Final, LA Kings 3 Golden Knights 1. VGK drop to 21-7-1, while the Kings improve to 13-11-6.
