Mark Stone (USA Today Sports)
One big move at the Trade Deadline seems to have woken up the Vegas Golden Knights, in a big way. The acquisition of All-Star Mark Stone has reinvigorated the hockey club, as they have gone 3-0-0 with their new look lineup. Vegas' recent surge started on Tuesday evening against the Dallas Stars and continued with a pair of back-to-back wins against the Florida Panthers and Anaheim Ducks.
Three straight wins in the National Hockey League is nothing to scoff at, regardless of the opponent. Every team presents their own challenges and even the best teams can lose to the cellar-dwellers on any given night.
Alex Tuch (USA Today Sports)
In regard to the Dallas Stars, they are a team right in the mix of a playoff position. In an effort to beef up their lineup, the Stars acquired Mats Zuccarello from the New York Rangers, at the trade deadline. Zuccarello would play parts of one game, scoring a goal and an assist, before breaking his arm. Zuccarello is expected to miss four weeks, but the Stars still roll out Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and the dynamic young defenseman, Miro Heiskanen. Vegas imposed their will on Dallas, taking a 4-1 decision Tuesday evening, on the back Max Pacioretty's fifth two-goal game of the season. Defensemen Nate Schmidt and Brayden McNabb would add two empty-netters, boosting their individual stat lines and icing the game.
Thursday night's game against the Panthers was the most intriguing of the three. Florida will not be joining in on the postseason festivities this year, but they ice a lineup featuring the top-end talent of Mike Hoffman, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Vincent Trocheck. Their overall team speed presents problems for the Vegas Golden Knights, a team predicated on a fast, forechecking style of offense. When teams are able to match the Golden Knights' speed and tenacity, they usually come away with a point or two.
Florida's relentless attack and timely saves from future Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo, pushed Vegas to their limit. This back-and-forth contest required extra time, in order to crown a winner. Both teams had high-quality chances during the 3-on-3 overtime period, but both Luongo and Malcolm Subban stood tall in net, forcing a shootout.
Shootout Summary:
Round 1:
Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA) miss
William Karlsson (VGK) miss
Round 2:
Aleksander Barkov (FLA) miss
Shea Theodore (VGK) GOAL
Round 3:
Vincent Trocheck (FLA) miss
Vegas wins the shootout, 1-0.
Subban's Game-Winning Save on Trocheck (USA Today Sports)
Subban played each shooter brilliantly during the shootout. His pure athleticism and instincts come into play in these types of situations and he excels. Subban has never lost a shootout with the Golden Knights, as the active goaltender, not even allowing a goal in his 16 shots faced, over the last two seasons. The knock on Subban has always been his technique and rebound control, but when it gets down to a shootout, Suuuuuub is able to go in and simply make the big saves. Following the game, Subban explained his mentality during the one-on-one breaks. "I just try to be patient and not try to read the shooter, but don’t assume and don’t guess and just try to be patient and wait, kind of trust in my abilities that if they get around, I’ll get there and make the save".
Marc-Andre Fleury, Jakob Silfverberg (USA Today Sports)
Anaheim finds themselves in a more desperate situation than the previous two teams. Heading into Friday's matchup with the Golden Knights, the Ducks were riding a four-game losing streak, without All-Star goalie John Gibson. Gibson returned to the lineup for Friday night's tilt, but it didn't translate into a win, as the Golden Knights handed them a fifth-straight loss, via a 3-0 shutout. Anaheim has been consistently sliding down the standings since mid-December. Dating back to a December 18th loss to the New York Rangers, the Ducks have gone 5-21-4. Over those 30 games, the Ducks endured separate losing streaks of 12, seven, and their current, five games.
Randy Carlyle was fired as the head coach, amid the seven-game losing streak. That firing could be classified as a "needing to do something" move, as their roster construction is more to blame than the longtime coach. Prior to the slide, Anaheim was winning games mainly on the brilliance of Gibson in goal. He was the unquestioned best goalie in the league during the first three months of the season, resulting in his 2019 All-Star nomination. That equation only works for so long and now the Ducks find themselves drowning in the Pacific Division.
Thus far, the Golden Knights have to be happy with their acquisition of Stone. He has picked up his first point with Vegas on Friday evening and the team has been performing better as a whole, with Stone slotting onto the second line with Pacioretty and Paul Stastny. Stone's power play abilities were on full display, as he set up William Karlsson for the easiest goal of his career, to open the scoring against Anaheim with his slick pass across the slot. Stone will only get more comfortable with the new club as Vegas moves on to games against tougher opposition, with two games against the first-place Calgary Flames, this coming week.
Vegas' next game is on Sunday, March 3rd, a home matinée with the Vancouver Canucks.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@VGK_Buzz) for your Golden Knights news, analysis, and occasional funny joke.
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