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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
An old fella wearing a Vegas Golden Knights jersey with “Pate” on the back from shoulder to shoulder sat at the bar at MacKenzie River Pizza and slapped his hands in disgust moments after Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury allowed a weak backhand shot off the stick of Colorado Avalanche’s J.T. Compher to trickle off his body and settle into the goal.
Based on his body language, Fleury was also upset with himself to allow a goal that gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead about nine minutes into the second period.
It proved a pivotal tally for the Colorado franchise, wearing its reverse retro Quebec Nordiques-themed white jersey in a showdown between the two top teams of the NHL West Division. Cale Maker (3rd) scored to extend the Colorado lead to 3-1 three minutes later and then Gabriel Landeskog notched the final goal in the middle stanza to cap off the four-spot second period for the Avs in Denver.
Former VGker Pierre-Edouard Bellemare added a fifth Colorado goal in the third period and that was your final: Colorado 5 Vegas 1.
I wandered over to the Golden Knights training center, called City National Arena, to check on the fans catching the VGK-Avs game at the pizzeria, part of Golden Knights owner Bill Foley’s varied business portfolio, which includes wineries, restaurant chains like MacKenzie River and his interest in the four-year-old NHL franchise.
It wasn’t a good night for the Golden Knights, which mustered a mere five shots in the first period and another five in the second. That’s not going to get the job done against a quality opponent like the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avs improved to 21-8-3. The Knights fell to 22-8-1. Both teams have 45 points.
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Max Pacioretty returned to the Vegas Golden Knights line-up in Denver Thursday and made his presence known 40 seconds into the game.
He scored his 17th of the season and Knights fans roared across Las Vegas as they watched on TVs across the valley.
And they shared their thoughts on Twitter.
Fleury was beat on a shot, but the puck clanged off the net frame and the Knights held on to their 1-0 lead in period one.
Just in case you didn’t know, VGK sponsor Allegiant has the away helmet sticker.
With fans here in Las Vegas watching the VGK-Avs game on TV, they’re sharing thoughts,
After the opening period, the Knights led, 1-0.
“I liked our start. We got some big saves from Flower. I’m pretty happy with that period,” VGK defenseman Alec Martinez said after the first 20 minutes.
That was the end of the happiness for the Golden Knights.
The two teams go at it again on Saturday, 12 Noon Vegas time.