Ovechkin, Washington Zoom Past Golden Knights, 5-2, During 5PM Sunday Game Before 17,877; VGK Hype F1 Race In Vegas
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Shop at Jay’s Market at 190 East Flamingo Road at the Koval Lane intersection east of the Strip, especially after Formula 1 and Clark County blocked one of his entrances.
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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — When the Super Bowl came to Las Vegas in February, we saw footballs on the Strip.
When the National Finals Rodeo rolls into Vegas in December, this glitzy Strip of neon becomes a horse town.
And with the F1 Las Vegas Grand prix taking over the Strip and neighboring roads, we’re going to see open wheel race cars at venues.
Such is the case with a car on the plaza outside T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights hosted the Washington Capitals and their goal-scoring machine, Alex Ovechkin, Sunday for an unusual 5 pm start.
Clark County approved F1’s takeover of the famed Strip as part of the 3.8-mile race track, which includes concrete barriers, fencing and light mounts also installed along Harmon Avenue, Koval Lane and Sands Avenue.
Lucky for the Vegas Golden Knights, the F1 track is not blocking access to their place of business, T-Mobile Arena, like it does at other businesses in the Strip corridor. Four businesses have filed lawsuits against F1 and Clark County, alleging they have lost millions of dollars because of race setup has caused problems with reaching businesses.
VGK fans won’t have to deal with F1 race traffic this week because the Knights are hitting the road after losing to the Caps for five games. Ovechkin notched a hat trick thanks to an open-net goals and Washington defeated Vegas, 502, before a announced crowd of 17,877.
Vegas looked sluggish in the first period as Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by the iconic Ovechkin and defenseman Jakob Chychrun in an opening stanza that featured another video tribute to a visiting former VGKer — goalie Logan Thompson.
A lively bounce of the puck off the boards behind Thompson set up an in-close goal by VGK’s Brett Howden with only eight seconds left in the period. Vegas trailed, 2-1, after one.
In period two, a Jakub Vrana goal for Washington gave the Caps a 3-1 lead before VGK forward Keegan Kolesar scored a goal from in close on a rebound and Vegas trailed only, 3-2.
But that man Ovechkin scored his 12th of the season after a giveaway pass by VGK center Jack Eichel and the Caps skated into the second intermission with a 4-2 lead.
VGK coach Bruce Cassidy pieced together some odd lines, with Nic Roy centering Tomas Hertl on the left side and Kolesar on the right side for the second line. For the fourth line, Cole Schwindt had defenseman Ben Hutton on left wing, conjuring up memories when former VGK coach Gerard Gallant placed former VGK defenseman Jon Merrill on a fourth line.
The Knights picked up the pace in the third period.
But they could not convert several good scoring chances.
Ovechkin slid the puck into an open net and the Caps left Vegas with a 5-2 win.
Washington is 12-4-2, including two wins over Vegas. The VGK fell to 11-5-2.
