Original VGK Misfits Fleury, Tuch, Marchessault Lead Vegas To 3-1 Win Over Minnesota Tuesday; Series Tied At One
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Just the facts: Vegas Golden Knights 3 Minnesota Wild 1
VGK goal scorers: Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch (two goals)
Series: Wild and VGK tied at one
Top Star: Marc-Andre Fleury
Key stat: Vegas had 63 hits to the Wild’s 46
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VGK nemesis Minnesota jumped out to a 1-0 lead after outworking the Golden Knights for the first half of this pivotal game two at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Then something interesting happened before the 50 percent attendance capacity crowd of 8,683.
The Golden Knights began grinding and hustling and reverting to the tough Misfits of 2017-18, with original Misfits Jonathan Marchessault tying the score at one and Alex Tuch adding two scores to give the Vegas squad a 3-1 win over the rugged Wild.
The series shifts to St. Paul Thursday for game three with the two teams splitting in Vegas.
From NHL Stats: Fleury allowed one goal or fewer in a playoff start for the 36th time in his career (146 starts), surpassing Ken Dryden (35x in 112 starts) for sole possession of the 11th most such performances in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. Among active goaltenders, only Henrik Lundqvist (45x in 130 starts) has more playoff starts in which he has allowed one goal or fewer.
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Playoff veteran Fleury was in goal for the Vegas Golden Knights, looking to score its first goal in the Best-of-7 first round series against the Minnesota Wild. The Knights lost, 1-0, in overtime Sunday afternoon. Fleury was superb, keeping the game scoreless after one period and stopping 17 Wild shots.
The Knights tonight were still without their top scorer, winger Max Pacioretty. So, Tuch was moved to the top line with center Chandler Stephenson and forward Mark Stone.
Fleury saved the Golden Knights’ ass in period one. With the season nearly in the balance for the Vegas club, the Minnesota Wild took it to the Knights, outshooting the VGK, 17-10.
Fleury made several spectacular saves on Minnesota’s Grade A scoring chances, keeping the Knights deadlocked with Minnesota, 0-0, after one period. VGK was still looking for their first goal after 80 plus minutes of play.
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Midway through period two, it was still scoreless. But the Wild were outshooting the Knights, 25-15.
This might not be a popular observation, but the Minnesota team was outworking the Golden Knights, with the Wild sealing off the center of the ice in front of goalie Cam Talbot.
Minnesota went ahead midway through the second period with a Matt Dumba goal.
But the Knights answered, with Marchessault snapping off a wrister to beat Talbot at 12:25 — a mere 18 seconds after the Dumba goal.
The Knights needed to pound the Minnesota net and that’s exactly what Tuch did, slamming home a goal from the doorstep for a VGK 2-1 lead with only 2:41 left in the second period.
Tuch then scored the third period’s only goal on a power play to seal the 3-1 win.
And the Knights had knotted the series, as Fleury stopped 34 of 35 Minnesota shots on goal.
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Fleury. Photo: NHL
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The Vegas Golden Knights still have tickets available for tonight’s VGK vs Minnesota Game 2 showdown at T-Mobile Arena.
The tickets start at $189 and range to $750, according to the Golden Knights ticket exchange website. The VGK have 50 percent attendance capacity, or 8,682 seats for the first round playoff game. Masks must be worn inside the arena.
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Fleury is Vegas’ nominee for the King Clancy Trophy. Here are all the teams’ nominations.
MInnesota goalie Cam Talbot has spun shutouts for three different teams in the playoffs. Check it out. From NHL Stats: “Talbot, who fell two saves shy of the most by a Wild goaltender in a playoff game, posted his first postseason shutout with the franchise after recording two with both the Oilers (2017) and Flames (2020). Only one goaltender in NHL history has earned a postseason shutout with more franchises than the current Minnesota netminder.”
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