Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Well, it was not exactly a work of art, this Vegas Golden Knights 6-3 win over Calgary Thursday night.
The VGK fell behind after one period (it seems as usual), endured a 26-minute ice delay before the third period, yielded some odd-man rushes that resulted in three Calgary goals and needed three goals in the final period to bury a weak 70-point Calgary squad.
“Odd man rushes, we gave a few,” new VGK coach John Tortorella said after the game. He noted it’s a matter of players balancing being aggressive “without playing it too safe.”
But in the end, Vegas rode the hat trick of newly-minted top line center Mitch Marner, who scored three goals (plus assisted on two others) in the win backstopped by goalie Carter Hart.
For a team in a playoff position (just barely), the Golden Knights have trailed a lot in games this season and seem to come to life in the third period in a last-ditch effort to bounce back from deficits. They did it again tonight, breaking 3-3 tie after two periods on goals by Brett Howden, Ivan Barbashev and Marner.
The Flames’ Zach Whitecloud, a former popular Golden Knights defenseman, drew a huge reception from the crowd in the first period when Vegas played a nice tribute video for Whitecloud’s first visit as an opposing player.
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A major question is Vegas’ goaltending. As you can see, the Knights yielded more than three goals a game and had a save percentage of only .874 entering the game behind Akira Schmid, Adin Hill and Hart, who is now 6-3-3. Hart had a GAA of 3.28 entering the game with a save percentage of .871.
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Just the facts: Vegas Golden Knights 6 Calgary Flames 3
Golden Knights goal scorers: Mitch Marner (21, 22, 23); Pavel Dorofeyev (35), Brett Howden (10) and Ivan Barbashev (22).
Attendance: 17,912
VGK record: 34 wins 26 regulation losses 16 overtime/shootout losses for 84 points
PSA