Golden Knights have struck the jackpot in Las Vegas
Expansion franchise is hot ticket in Vegas and surprise leader in the Pacific Division
Las Vegas is full of headliners, but the Golden Knights continue to be a hot ticket every night at the T-Mobile Arena, the rink wedged between the New York-New York and Monte Carlo hotels and casinos.
Winning helps, of course. They’re 18-2-2 at home, best in the NHL. On the road, they’re also 11-8-1, so they’re not onetrick ponies.
The novelty could wear off after the first year, but fans also packed Freemont Street in downtown Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon for their first fan fest with players walking a red carpet.
And their following is just as awestruck at the team’s sparkling two-sheet practice facility in Summerlin — 25 minutes from the strip — where they jammed 2,000 people in for practice Friday before hosting the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
“We know we’re lucky to do what we do, but you don’t hear the word ‘fun’ that often,” said former Oilers forward David Perron, taken from St. Louis in the expansion draft. “We’ve heard that a lot from our coach Gerard Gallant. He said he wanted good people who worked hard and to have fun. It’s one of the staples we’ve had all year.”
On Saturday morning, the stands were full again at the practice facility during their pregame skate, while a group of kids were learning how to skate and on the other rink, most of them in Golden Knights jerseys.
“We really had no idea what the grassroots would be like,” said Vegas GM George McPhee.
An estimated 6,000 Oilers fans made the trip to Las Vegas and it was loud for 21/2 hours as the record hockey crowd at T-Mobile Arena, 18,351 (850 over capacity), partied hard.
“The fans don’t buy into the score so much,” said Perron. “If we’re down 2-1 or 3-1, they keep cheering for us.”
“You have to give credit to the people in Vegas,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan.
“They’ve got something great going on, not only their team, but also their presentation of the game ... as well as the energy that they’ve created not only on the ice, but also in the stands. The whole nine yards, it comes at you there. It is a tough place to play.”
The Oilers won 3-2 in overtime, but the Golden Knights ran their point total to 61 — tops in the Pacific Division — even though only one player, Jonathan Marchessault, is in the top 30 in league scoring.
Vegas only needs 16 wins and an extra-time loss in its final 40 games to reach last year’s playoff cutoff of 94 points, which seems eminently doable barring a string of injuries.
But McPhee refuses to think that far ahead.
“Teams are playing us harder now,” cautioned McPhee.
Maybe, but it might not matter. This a four-line, six defencemen-deep team with no egos and no superstars. A team that plays every game like it’s a playoff game. A bunch of guys who were told they weren’t good enough to keep on their old teams.
“What gives us success is we play the game fast. We don’t want to keep the puck too long, we like to put pressure on the opposing defence,” said Marchessault, who signed a five-year, $30-million deal after making $750,000 as an anonymous player away from the rink in South Florida.
“What we wanted was fast players and competitive players,” said McPhee.
“Those guys work so hard up and down the ice with four lines, 18 players, they skate so well. That’s their strong point,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who stayed in Las Vegas after the game to celebrate his 21st birthday.
“Lines don’t change,” said Perron. “I’ve played with the same guys all year except for one shift against Chicago. Guys on the fourth line are getting 11-12 minutes. The coach trusts everybody, brings them into the action and we’re starting to control games, get a good grip on them along with winning them.”
They got lucky, too. Columbus left centre William Karlsson available. Florida left Marchessault available even after 30 goals last year.
From Minnesota, desperate to protect Matt Dumba, the Golden Knights got winger Alex Tuch, a first-round pick in 2014, in a deal and also took fourth-liner Erik Haula in the expansion draft. Tuch has 21 points and Haula has 15 goals.
They’ve started four different goalies — Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban, Oscar Dansk and Max Lagace — and still won.
McPhee, his right-hand man Kelly McCrimmon, head of player personnel Vaughn Karpan and their legion of pro scouts did a masterful job of watching games last year and picking the right people.
“The only bad game we’ve had was against the Oilers (an earlier 8-2 loss in Edmonton),” said Perron.
They’ve got something great going on, not only their team, but also their presentation of the game.