The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Vegas hopes act does well on the road in Washington
WASHINGTON — At home, the Vegas Golden Knights have a fortress to protect, a Knight to vanquish opponents and Michael Buffer to introduce the combatants.
On the road, they have hockey. The Golden Knights are looking for a little road cookin’ as the Stanley Cup Final against the Capitals goes to Washington for Games 3 on Saturday night with the series tied at one game apiece. They’re 6-2 on the road so far in the playoffs.
“I think it’s going to be good we get on the road,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “I think we got comfortable there a little bit.”
Vegas is plenty comfortable on home ice, 7-2 even after dropping Game 2 Wednesday. That’s a far cry from the Capitals, who are 4-5 at home. Road success has been a hallmark of each team’s run to the Final. Vegas won two of three games in a tough building in Winnipeg in the Western Conference final and has built plenty of confidence playing away from home.
“We try and play the same game no matter what game we’re playing at, and it worked really well so far in the postseason,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said Thursday. “We just try and play the same game — play a quick, fast game, an uptempo game. Every game’s important in the playoffs, so I really don’t think it matters if you’re playing at home or on the road.”
Focus can be hard to keep at an arena on the Las Vegas Strip where the pregame entertainment is the talk of the NHL. The Golden Knights scored the first goal and allowed the next two in each of the first two games this series, which isn’t how they got to this point.
Three rounds in, they haven’t quite figured out how to do that at home. But Washington coach Barry Trotz doesn’t think there’s a systemic problem with his team at home. “We will get energy off our crowd and hopefully you want to get the other team on their heels,” Trotz said.