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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Well, one of Bill Foley’s many properties didn’t do very well Saturday night.
The Edmonton Oilers scored twice before many fans reached their seats with beers at T-Mobile Arena and Edmonton followed up the quick 2-0 start with a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday night on the Strip.
Foley, the Golden Knights majority owner, was in Europe this week. He and his partners bought a minority share in a French league team, FC Lorient, and appear to be poised to not only buy more interest in this soccer club in France but also purchase more soccer teams in Europe under a multi-club business model.
That tells you all you need to know about Foley’s interest in a Major League Soccer (MLS) club in Las Vegas. Perhaps, MLS Commissioner Don Garber is more pitchman than realist about whether a MLS team will be created in this growing market of 2.3 million residents.
While Foley looks to expand his soccer fiefdom in Europe, T-Mobile Arena was a packed house just off the Strip, between New York-New York and Park MGM. Former Knights player Mattias Janmark scored a mere 46 seconds into the game and then Leon Draisaitl followed about a minute later with his 25th goal of the season for a quick 2-0 Edmonton lead.
The Knights notched a goal late in the first period thanks to the lunch bucket hustle of their fourth line of Nic Roy, William Carrier and Keegan Kolesar, who was credited with his fifth goal of the season.
Considering the VGK was in a 2-0 hole less than two minutes into the game, trailing, 2-1, after the first period was not a bad situation to be in for Vegas.
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Edmonton Oilers fans poured into the Big Ice House by the Strip.
They greeted Oilers goals with loud roars of approval and the crowd noise seemed a 50/50 split.
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In period two, the Oilers-Knights game turned into an ol’ fashioned, up-and-down-the-ice skating match with the Vegas Golden Knights surging toward the Edmonton goal during one sequence, but then turning the puck over only to see Draisaitl notch his second goal of the night for a 3-1 lead.
After VGK third-line center Byron Froese hit the post, buddy Paul “Welcome Back” Cotter picked up the loose change and shuffled the puck into goal for the Knights’ second goal of the game.
But 18 seconds later, Edmonton answered. Winger Klim Kostin, a 23-year-old Russian, scored to restore the Oilers’ two-goal lead.
After the game, VGK coach Bruce Cassidy lamented the odd-man rushes that would ultimately saddle the Knights with a loss tonight. The Knights are 28-14-2 for 58 points, leading both the LA Kings and Seattle Kraken by two points each. Edmonton is 24-18-3 for 51 points.
Cassidy plotted a move to juice up the Knights’ offense. He reunited the Misfits Line of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault and it paid off bigtime. Karlsson scored a non-open netter, regular goal with only 42 seconds left in the second period and the Knights trailed, 4-3, entering the third period.
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The third period breezed along and didn’t have the juice I expected.
The Knights pulled goalie Logan Thompson for an extra skater as the VGK still trailed by a goal.
But the VGK could not notch the equalizer in the final minute.
Final from Vegas: Oilers 4 Golden Knights 3.
It was the sixth straight Golden Knights loss to a division opponent.
The Golden Knights play Monday at 3 PM on MLK Day. The opponent will be the Dallas Stars, coached last year’s VGK coach, Pete DeBoer.