Knights Emerge With 4-3 Shootout Comeback Win Over Toronto After Slow Start; VGK Announce Attendance At 15,977, Well Below Capacity
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — What a weirdo game.
The Toronto Maple Leafs scored three goals in the first 8:37 in their contest against the Vegas Golden Knights, with VGK goalie Adin Hill allowing a very soft goal in the first minute.
And what was up with all the empty seats — and even empty rows — behind Hill and around T-Mobile Arena? The empty seats stood out like an empty Interstate 15 during rush hour in Las Vegas. This is a franchise that had its venue filled to more than 100 percent of capacity in previous seasons.
With a popular Original Six team like Toronto, you would think there would be a full arena tonight. Why the smallish crowd by VGK standards? Possible reasons are a weak economy, VGK’ new administrative front office still learning this tricky market, decreased tourism from Canada and a 40th-sized market that is getting saturated with many sports options while discretionary spending is dropping.
The team said attendance was 15,977 — a low number for a team known in past seasons for its 100 percent attendance capacity numbers. The arena’s fixed seat number is 17,367.
On press row, the franchise’s first coach, Gerard Gallant, watched the early carnage. Gallant led the Golden Knights on their maiden season miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final, where the Knights ran out of juice and lost to the Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals in five games in 2018.
A funny thing happened after the Leafs opened with three straight goals.
The Golden Knights then scored three straight goals on Toronto and their well-known and decorated goalie, The Bob, Sergei Bobrovsky.
And then the Knights defeated the Maple Leafs in a shootout, with SO goals by VGK youngsters Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly.
“I like the way we picked each other up,” VGK head coach Ryan Craig said during his postgame presser.
Craig, now 4-1 in his first five games, said it’s his job to be consistent and not to get too high and not to get too low when the Knights fall behind early.
VGK captain Mark Stone blasted a slapshot past The Bob in the first period. Then in the second, former Leaf Mitch Marner fired a gorgeous pass to Brett Howden, who redirected the puck into the back of the net. And early scoring machine Jack Eichel converted a penalty shot to somehow deadlock the schizophrenic game at three each.
Vegas took over the game in the middle stanza, outshooting Toronto 21-8.
The Knights play division foe Los Angeles Saturday and a bunch of the franchise’s original Misfits and even Gallant from Year 1 will be around Saturday to meet fans.
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