Golden Knights are loaded with experience
Lightning grabs 3-2 lead over Capitals
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — 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.
And while this might be a firstyear 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 this cast.
Everybody knows about threetime Stanley Cup champion MarcAndre Fleury, a key figure during Pittsburgh’s reign the last 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 co-stars in this feel-good 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 postseason. “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 postseason 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 postseason. “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.”
Saturday night
LIGHTNING 3, CAPITALS 2: In Tampa, Fla., Cedric Paquette scored in the opening minute and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots to help Tampa Bay hold off Washington in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Ondrej Palat and Ryan Callahan also scored as the home team won for the first time in the best-of-seven matchup, with the Lightning taking a 3-2 series lead and moving within one victory of advancing the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in four seasons.
The Capitals, in the conference final for the first time in the Alex Ovechkin era, have lost three straight after winning twice on the road to begin the series.
Ovechkin scored with 1:36 remaining, trimming what once was a three-goal lead to one, however Vasiliveskiy made three more saves down the stretch to finish the victory.
Game 6 is Monday night in Washington, where Tampa Bay has already won to improve to 5-1 on the road this postseason.