By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
The final day of 2021 was a lot like most days this year.
With lots of uncertainty in an age when COVID-19 is playing havoc with the NHL schedule while fans show up at Vegas Golden Knights games to watch hockey matches without masks as if there’s not a deadly disease out there at all.
The Golden Knights have navigated through a mess of injured players and players in COVID-19 protocol to reach a 22-12 record for 44 points and a first place spot atop the NHL’s Pacific Division after the New Year’s Eve win over upstart Anaheim Friday.
First place was on the line at 12 noon when the fast-skating and skilled Ducks came to T-Mobile Arena a mere point behind the VGK.
But the Knights dominated the territorial ice, limiting the Ducks quad to only 16 shots, including a lone goal in the third period when the VGK had a 3-0 lead.
Today’s game is happening as Clark County is coping with a spike in COVID-19 cases. This from the Southern Nevada Health District: “The Health District is reporting a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the community. As of December 28, there have been 363,685 cases of COVID-19 reported in Clark County, an increase of 2,201 cases over the previous day. The Health District is also reporting the seven-day moving average of 825 new positive cases as of December 25. A total of 6,451 Clark County residents have died from COVID-19.”
Arena public address announcer Bruce Cusick requested fans to mask up in light of the National Hockey League dealing with players infected with COVID and games being postponed. There is a state indoor mask mandate, but most fans at VGK games do not comply. It’s doubtful that will change because the arena and NHL have not thrown out any fans from the building for not wearing a mask.
Even the massive CES trade show will be closing one day early, with the in-person event taking place in Las Vegas Jan. 5-7. CES said the step was taken as an additional safety measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place for CES.
Games that have been postponed include these in Canada because of arena capacity restrictions:
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Twenty bucks plus fees get you a ticket to today’s game.
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Nic Roy scored his seventh goal of the season and the Golden Knights grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first period.
The Knights played without star winger Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, who underwent wrist surgery and is out indefinitely. Nobody knew about Pacioretty’s wrist problem until the team released the info via a tweet this week. Goalie Robin Lehner was also out, replaced by Laurent Brossoit in the net for the Knights.
Alex Pacioretty and Evgenii Dadonov returned from their COVID-19 protocols, with Pacioretty paired with Ben Hutton and Dadonov playing with Chandler Stephenson and Mattias Janmark.
And with a minute and a half left in the first period, Adam Brooks directed a puck past Ducks goalie John Gibson. After one period, the Knights led, 2-0.
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With a pileup in front of Gibson, Janmark scored to give the Knights a 3-0 lead in period two.
The Knights yielded a goal to Ducks veteran player Ryan Getzlaf and that was your final: Vegas 3 Anaheim 1.