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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
It was a nice bounce-back performance by Vegas in Game 2 Wednesday after the Golden Knights were demolished by the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 Sunday.
The Golden Knights radically improved their play, especially in periods two and three against Colorado. But the Avalanche cashed in on a controversial slashing penalty called on the VGK’s Reilly Smith in overtime to win, 3-2, in OT and seize a 2-0 series lead in the NHL second round matchup between the two NHL teams with the most points during the amended 56-game regular season .
Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen scored on that power play a mere 2:07 into the extra session and the Knights headed back to Las Vegas looking to climb back in this second round series in games 3 and 4 on Friday and Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
The VGK ugly 7-1 loss Sunday came only two days after a Knights’ Game 7 win over Minnesota in Las Vegas.
But on Wednesday, the Golden Knights outshot Colorado, 41-25, and hit five posts.
VGK defenseman Alec Martinez scored a power play goal in the first period to knot the score at one, while Knights forward Reilly Smith scored a pretty backhand goal to make it, 2-2. Colorado goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who is a Vezina Trophy finalist for best NHL goalie just like VGK netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, played outstanding tonight.
“It stings no matter,” VGK forward Mark Stone said after the game. “Take care of home ice and come back here for Game 5 tied up.”
Colorado’s Brandon Saad and Tyson Jost scored in period one, which ended with the Avs leading, 2-1.
In their four-year history, the Knights were 4-6 in OTs in the playoffs. Now, the VGK are 4-7 in the postseason and 0-2 in OT games this season.
The Golden Knights will have more than 17,000 fans in their building Friday and Sunday as the team has approval for 100 percent capacity at T-Mobile Arena. In fact, fans attending the games do not even have to wear masks if they are vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
Postgame reaction on Twitter:
From TicketIQ:
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