THE NOSE KNOWS
Knights fourth-liner plays the hero in wild Game 1
LAS VEGAS — The city that never sleeps. And the hockey team that never surrenders.
The first label belongs to Las Vegas.
And in these playoffs, the latter belongs to the Golden Knights.
That certainly was the case in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.
It took four lead changes and the Golden Knights fighting back after being down 2-1 in the first period and 4-3 in the third, but the Little Expansion Team That Could once again found a way in a 6-4 win against the Washington Capitals on Monday night.
Tomas Nosek scored the game-winner at 9:44 of the third period when he converted a back-door pass from Shea Theodore at the side of the net. But this was a team effort from the Golden Knights, who received goals from Colin Miller, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Ryan Reaves.
Game 2 is on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. And if it’s anything like Game 1’s backand-forth battle, this series should be wildly entertaining.
After a pre-game spectacle that featured a glowing drum line, a Medieval Times-style sword fight and player introductions performed by Michael “Let’s get ready to rumble!” Buffer, it was time to finally play hockey. And in the first period, both teams came to play.
Washington head coach Barry Trotz had said that it would be difficult to weather Vegas’ dust storm in the early going. And he was right.
With Andre Burakovsky sitting in the penalty box for boarding, the Golden Knights struck first when the Capitals failed to clear the zone and Vegas’ Miller blasted a screened shot that goalie Braden Holtby probably never saw.
By the 10-minute mark, the ice was tilted in the home team’s favour, with Vegas out-shooting Washington 7-1. And yet, the fact that the Golden Knights only managed one goal during that time was the break the Capitals needed.
With five minutes left in the period, Washington punched back, scoring twice in a 42-second span to take a 2-1 lead.
On the first one, Brett Connolly redirected a point shot from Michal Kempny that appeared to change directions again when it banked off the skate of Miller. Shortly after, Nicklas Backstrom rushed the puck into the offensive zone and, after few passes, backhanded a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury.
It was the first time in the playoffs that the visiting team had scored a goal in the first period in Vegas. But Washington’s 2-1 lead did not last long.
Not on this night, when it seemed as though which team had the final shot would win.
As the first period wound down in, Vegas’ top line went on the attack, with Karlsson tying it up after a Smith shot banked off the end boards and onto his waiting stick. It was Karlsson’s seventh goal of the playoffs and the 15th assist from Smith, who had two points in the game.
Vegas steam-rolled its way to the final, having swept Los Angles and losing just three times in the first three rounds. But at least in Game 1, the Capitals proved to be a worthy opponent. There wasn’t much separating these two teams — and that wasn’t always a good thing.
Entertaining? Sure. Exciting? No question.
But this was far from a defensive gem or the kind of conservative hockey that both teams had played on their way to the final.
Part of that was because of the goaltenders.
Heading into Game 1, Holtby had gone nearly eight periods without allowing a goal, while Fleury had a .947 save percentage. But neither was particularly sharp early on. It didn’t help that their defence practically rolled out the red carpet to the front of the net.
Holtby was swimming in his crease after mishandling a Deryk Engelland shot when Vegas took a 3-2 lead in the second period on a goal from Smith. Five minutes later, Fleury completely misread a pass from T.J. Oshie, giving John Carlson a wide-open look at an empty net to tie the game.
A minute into the third period, Washington’s Tom Wilson deflected an Alex Ovechkin shot that Fleury appeared to kick into his own net to make it 4-3 for the Capitals. But, just as Vegas has done in these playoffs, the Golden Knights did not take long to answer back.
This time it was Reaves, the Game 5 hero of the Western Conference final, who got away with crosschecking Carlson to the ice and then one-timed a pass in front to tie the game.
With the score tied in the third, Nosek scored only his second of the playoffs and then added an empty-netter.