Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Sometimes it seems like the Vegas Golden Knights are still a young team. But now in Year 5, the franchise is old enough that it’s easy to get sentimental when old warhorses like original coach Gerard Gallant and former popular player Ryan Reaves return to the VGK arena.
Gallant was fired nearly two years in mid-January 2020, while the hard-hitting and beer brewer Reaves was shipped to the New York Rangers before this season.
But Gallant, now the Rangers coach, and Reaves both received warm receptions when each were featured in videos in period one as the Golden Knights hosted the Rangers Thursday night. The Golden Knights, bolstered by the returns of goalie Robin Lehner and forward Mark Stone, scored a solid 5-1 win over the Rangers Thursday.
The Knights announced the attendance at 18,117.
The VGK tribute via video:
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The Knights opened the scoring on a power play when forward Jonathan Marchessault flipped in a backhander from in close. The Knights led,1-0, after one period.
But only 52 seconds into period two, the Rangers’ Chris Kreider notched his 21st goal of the season to knot the game at one.
The Golden Knights responded.
Both Mark Stone and Mattias Janmark each scored their seventh goals of the season to give the Knights a 3-1 lead after the middle stanza against the old VGK coach.
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The Golden Knights held Pride Night and the pregame warmups featured special jerseys that were slated to be auctioned off. Take a look:
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Goals by former Rangers player Brett Howden and Marchessault (his18th) polished off the Rangers in the third period and gave the Knights their 23rd win of the season.
The Knights have 47 points and sit atop not only the Pacific Division but the entire Western Conference.
The Vegas squad has another “reunion” with an opponent Saturday when former Golden Knights player Marc-Andre Fleury visits T-Mobile Arena with the Chicago Blackhawks, which lost to the Coyotes, 6-4, in Arizona Thursday.
The VGK video crew will be back at it crafting a tribute for Flower from his four seasons here in Las Vegas. They will have lots of content to choose from.