Las Vegas looks to continue fairy tale
LAS VEGAS — Just saying the Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final has a magical ring to it.
But what’s even more mystical is thinking the Knights are a mere five wins from hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup in its inaugural season.
Five more wins, over a potential 10 games.
While this might be a first-year team writing a fantastical Hollywood screenplay nobody could’ve scripted last summer when the roster was constructed, the NHL playoffs are nothing new to a core of characters in the cast.
Everyone knows about threetime Stanley Cup champion MarcAndre Fleury, a key figure during Pittsburgh’s reign the past two years, and 10-year veteran James Neal, who was with Nashville for last year’s run to the final against the Penguins.
But between guys such as David Perron, Luca Sbisa, Deryk Engelland, Ryan Reaves, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin and Tomas Tatar, the Golden Knights aren’t as new to the playoffs as people may believe.
The players’ individual postseason pedigree could be part of the reason the team is one game from clinching the Western Conference. Another reason is the eagerness of Fleury and Neal’s costars in this feelgood story.
“We don’t see ourselves as an expansion team for a long time now,” said Perron, a 13-year veteran who is playing in his seventh post-season.
“But at the same time, it’s always nice to keep proving people wrong and we know that, even at this point, I don’t feel like people believe we’ll close it out. So we’ve got to find a way.”
Coach Gerard Gallant has shown he has confidence in all his players, as they’ve all experienced pressure situations and performed well in all three round of the playoffs, including seven onegoal games. Not including Fleury’s 129 career playoff games, or Neal’s 94, the players who skated in Friday night’s 3-2 Game 4 victory now have a combined 489 games of post-season experience to their credit.
“It’s not new for those guys, I don’t think you get here if you don’t use your hockey players,” Gallant said.
“We’ve done it from Day One and there’s no reason not to use them because everybody competes, everybody battles and everybody’s a part of our team. That’s what we do. Guys work hard and compete hard and do your job and you’ll play. I feel comfortable putting most of our guys on the ice. There’s no issues there.”
And that’s because the Golden Knights have always done a good job of living in the moment, and not looking past each game.
Erik Haula spent his first four seasons in Minnesota and went to the playoffs every year, but it didn’t take long for him to realize he was with a special group of players.
“We got off to a great start, won two on the road [to open the season],” said Haula, who has three goals and four assists in the post-season. “Right after that first home game, that was special. It was a special night for the whole community. Right there, I think we came together as a community, as a team. We never looked back. We just kept going.
“We just have a close group. We respect every single person in here. We need every single person in here.”
Luca Sbisa has been in the league nine years and been to the post-season five times. His presence on defence has bolstered the crew on the blueline, helping to neutralize Winnipeg’s depth on offence.
“Coming in I just wanted to help this team and do what I could, especially on the ice,” said Sbisa, who went to the playoffs in four of the five seasons he was with Anaheim.
The fun continues Sunday, when the Jets host Game 5 and will look to stay alive against the fairy-tale Knights from Vegas.