Trio Of Former Golden Knights Players Visit Vegas, But VGK Handle Buffalo Sabres, 5-2, Heading Into All-Star Break Tuesday
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
The Golden Knights returned with five out of a possible eight points on the recent rugged Capitals/Hurricanes/Panthers/Lightning road trip only to be greeted by three former VGKers as Vegas hosted the Buffalo Sabres Tuesday night.
Fan favorite Alex Tuch along with Sabres teammates Cody Eakin and Peyton Krebs — all former Knights — skated against their former Golden Knights pals in the last VGK game before the NHL All-Star Game is played here Saturday.
No time to feel sentimental. The Golden Knights’ Misfits line struck in the game’s first minute as Jonathan Marchessault fed William Karlsson who passed it to Reilly Smith skating at the doorstep of the Buffalo goal and Smith tapped home the game’s first tally a mere 33 seconds into the game.
The Knights’ second goal came near the end of the first period when VGK fourth-line center Brett Howden snapped off a well-placed wrister past 40-year-old Buffalo netminder Craig Anderson with only 1:41 left in the period.
And with only five seconds left in the first 20 minutes, the tables were turned on Tuch when he was penalized two minutes for slashing and heard the “shame” chants against him.
After the first period, it was Vegas 2 Buffalo 0.
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The Golden Knights jumped on Buffalo in period two.
On the power play, VGK forward Nic Roy fed Marchessault with a nice pass and Marchy buried the shot with a wrister for his 20th of the season.
And after Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb went to the box for two minutes, Keegan Kolesar notched a shorthand tally for his fourth of the season 4:27 into middle stanza and the Knights were cruising, up 4-0.
But then Buffalo countered with a goal scored by one of those ex-Knights.
After the Knights gave away the puck in the offensive end, the Sabres responded with a goal by Tuch, who beat VGK goalie Robin Lehner with four minutes left in the second period.
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The Golden Knights used the Lunar New Year of the Tiger to sell the Chinese New Year warmup jerseys.
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In the final period, the Knights’ captain, Mark Stone, notched his eighth goal of the season. A little more than a minute into period three, the Knights led, 5-1.
Buffalo’s John Hayden wrapped up the goal-scoring with his first of the season and that was your final.
The Knights went into the All-Star break with a 5-2 win over Buffalo and their old VGK friends. Vegas is 27-16-3 for 57 points after 46 games, two points ahead of the Anaheim Ducks. The Knights said attendance was 18,235.
