Golden Knights suddenly hottest show on Vegas Strip
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The bookies in this gambling city have to be getting a bit nervous.
Hockey fans, though, are nothing short of ecstatic.
They screamed, danced and cheered as the goals came one right after another in a first-period blitz on Thursday night as the Vegas Golden Knights remained undefeated in the playoffs by dominating the San Jose Sharks 7-0 in the opening game of their Western Conference semifinal.
The hottest show on the Las Vegas Strip got even hotter as the Knights — who were 200-1 at many sports books to win the Stanley Cup before the season began — opened their second playoff series with a rout of the Sharks that was over before the Zambonis hit the ice.
This had nothing to do with the so-called Vegas Flu that has overcome some visiting teams who might have not resisted some of the pleasures on the Las Vegas Strip.
This was a simple beat down, by a group of players who had never been together on the ice before the season began.
“It’s not going to be like this every night,” Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “We’re going to enjoy this and move on.”
Once again, the Knights played like no expansion team ever before. Once again, they showed that perhaps the fantasy of bringing the Stanley Cup to the Las Vegas Strip may not be such a fantasy after all. And once again, 18,444 fans sang “Viva Las Vegas” and went home happy — but not before watching Fleury join them in doing the wave in the closing minutes.
“It’s a great home crowd,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “We like them a lot.”
There’s a lot to like about a team that a year ago was nothing more than an expansion project with an uncertain future. Now the Knights are tearing through the playoffs like a hot dice thrower at the craps table.
That could be a big problem for the sports books, which are on the hook for possibly millions if the Knights should win it all.