The Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks square off Thursday evening, for the second time in less than a week. Max Pacioretty had four points and a total of nine goals were scored in the first game.
A short four days ago, the Vegas Golden Knights (19-13-5) played host to the Vancouver Canucks (16-15-4), for the first of four games against one another this season. The Golden Knights would go on to take a convincing 6-3 victory before winning their third straight game on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.
Vancouver, on the other hand, parlayed their Sunday loss into their third straight loss that same night, back in Vancouver. On Thursday night, the two clubs will reconvene in Vancouver, for a grudge match the Canucks need to win. With both teams seemingly headed in opposite directions, these two points hanging in the balance are crucial.
In order to get a better sense of how round two will play out, let's dive into the first game. Nine goals were scored across 60 minutes, giving a solid sample of what to expect when the teams face off once again. Time to break down the goals and maybe a few crucial penalties from Sunday's rout.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 1, VAN: 0 🚨
An unlikely source of offense lit the first lamp, just 2:22 into the game. Defenseman Nick Holden scored his third goal of the season, on a seeing-eye wrist shot from the blue line, giving the home team an early lead.
The Golden Knights got good pressure down low from their new-look third line. Paul Stastny got the puck out to Holden, who walked the puck to the center of the point and flung it on net. Alex Tuch provided the traffic in front of Jacob Markstrom's net.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 1, VAN: 1 🚨
Contrary to the first Golden Knights tally, the Canucks' first strike came from a likely source, young superstar Elias Pettersson. Pettersson was quick to tie the game, scoring just 1:41 after the Holden goal.
Streaking across the low slot, Pettersson essentially stole a Chris Tanev point shot from right in front of Marc-Andre Fleury. He flung a wrister at the Vegas netminder, who made the stop, but ended up way out of his net during the attempt. Pettersson dove at the rebound, knocking it in with a swipe of his stick, mid-dive. It was a highlight-reel goal for the youngster.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 2, VAN: 1 🚨
The final goal of the first period came at the 9:51 mark, when Valentin Zykov potted a Power Play Goal on the first shift of the man advantage. The bottom-sixer has offensive upside and his usage on the PP shows Head Coach Gerard Gallant's confidence in his skill.
A Max Pacioretty faceoff win, yes I said it, led to this PPG. Pacioretty won the draw to Stastny, who dropped it to Mark Stone at the blue line. Stone sent it across the point to Shea Theodore, who fed Pacioretty for a faceoff circle one-timer. He was stopped, but Zykov cleaned up the rebound out front with a jabbing backhand that beat Markstrom top-shelf. Great display of hands and awareness by Zykov, while fighting off the defense of Oscar Fantenberg.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 3, VAN: 1 🚨
These teams were messing around, as the second period also featured scoring early on. Jonathan Marchessault gave the Golden Knights a two goal lead with his 10th goal of the season, 4:46 into the middle stanza.
Reilly Smith sprung Marchessault on a 1-on-3 breakout into Canuck territory. Marchessault smartly dumped the puck laterally, to the opposite wall, where only a streaking William Karlsson could corral it. With Smith joining behind him, Marchessault worked to the left side of the goal as Karlsson sent a cross-ice pass to the former. Smith found Marchessault wide open on the backdoor, for a goal created by a beautiful passing play.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 4, VAN: 1 🚨
Stone decided to get in on the action five minutes later with a goal of his own. At this point, the momentum was swinging wildy to the Golden Knights, giving them a three goal lead with approximately half of the game completed.
A Theodore stretch pass to Pacioretty started the sequence resulting in a quasi 2-on-1 with defenseman Quinn Hughes caught in the offensive zone. Stone got behind the covering Bo Horvat and lifted a wrist shot past Markstrom for his 12th of the year. It was the second goal set up by the duo of Theodore and Pacioretty.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 4, VAN: 2 🚨
Vancouver's top-end talent shone through to start the third period, when Brock Boeser cut the Vegas lead to two goals, 5:02 into the final frame.
Hughes, the rookie defenseman from The University of Michigan, put on a clinic skating past both Stone and Stastny from the blue line, all the way around the goal to set up Boeser. Hughes shook Stone, then beat Stastny to the edge, before wrapping around the goal and centering the pass. Boeser, in a tight spot, got stick on the puck and beat Fleury high. It was an impressive play all-around, the type of play needed to crack the Golden Knights on this night.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 5, VAN: 2 🚨
Pacioretty added to his two points, with his first of two third period goals, to push the Golden Knights back to a three-goal lead.
After a prolonged board battle deep in the Vegas zone, Stone hit Patches with a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone, springing him on a breakaway. Pacioretty's two stride burst with the puck gave him daylight and he shockingly flashed the hands, with a deke around Markstrom for the goal. Markstrom got the hook following the Pacioretty goal.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 5, VAN: 3 🚨
The goaltending change must have worked because the Canucks scored on the PP, cutting the lead back down to two goals, with 2:26 left in regulation.
Jake Virtanen simply willed this goal into fruition as the breakout seemed harmless until he hit the jets, getting around a terrible challenging angle by Holden, and beating Fleury in tight with a power move to the net. Holden cut his angle too short allowing Virtanen space to create this goal. It was all elementary at that point, but you never want to see goals get in your own net, regardless of the score.
🚨 Goal: VGK: 6, VAN: 3 🚨
Just for good measure, Pacioretty added his second of the period, a PPG, to firmly solidify the three-goal victory.
With :42 left to play, the winger scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season, capping off a four point night for the savvy veteran. Pacioretty got back to his sniper ways, scoring on a quick wrister from the faceoff circle to end the Canucks' hopes of a miraculous comeback. It was a great game for Pacioretty and the two-goal performance was his first of the 2019-20 campaign.
Expect a hungrier, meaner, faster Canucks team in front of their home crowd, looking to snap their losing streak. The Golden Knights, on the other hand, have their sights set on the first-place Coyotes who recently acquired superstar Taylor Hall in a blockbuster trade with the New Jersey Devils. The Golden Knights will get their first shot at the new-look Coyotes on December 28, in Vegas.
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