The Golden Knights got their seeding round underway against the Stars on Monday evening. And as if to make up for the four months without meaningful hockey, they made sure to pack it with unpredictability, even prior to puck drop.
Taking A Knee
When the initial images of the arenas were unveiled, many were quick to point out the lack of visibility for the Black Lives Matter movement, a cause the NHL incessantly claims to be behind. The only show of meaningful activism until Monday’s game came from Matt Dumba on behalf of the Hockey Diversity Alliance when he gave a speech prior to the Blackhawks-Oilers matchup.
Dumba did take a knee during the anthem in that game and raised a fist from the bench when his Wild took on the Canucks. Despite the flood of supportive tweets for Dumba, no players followed his lead.
Until Ryan Reaves and Robin Lehner of the Golden Knights and Jason Dickenson and Tyler Seguin of Dallas took a knee prior to their teams getting their tournaments underway. The bold statement turned heads across the league and will hopefully be the first of many instances of peaceful protests inside the bubble.
Picking Up From Where They Left Off
Head coach Peter DeBoer said pregame that he would be splitting the crease between Lehner and Fleury throughout the round robin play. Surprising some though, he elected to start Lehner over the playoff veteran, Fleury. When considering how the season was going before the NHL pause, the decision to put the Swede between the pipes to start makes sense given the hot streak he had been on.
Just over a minute into their first competitive game in four months, the Vegas Golden Knights found themselves leading. Chandler Stephenson, who has appeared to have refound his offensive prowess with Vegas, put his team up 64 seconds after puck drop with the help of a John Klingberg screen. William Karlsson and Mark Stone also picked up points on the play with assists.
Getting In Their Own Way
The Stars got on the board in the second when a Joe Pavelski cross ice pass took a rickashay off Alec Martinez’ skate under Lehner’s blocker. Before Vegas could even wrap their heads around what happened, they were down 2-1. Oleksiak potted the go-ahead goal for Dallas a mere 42 seconds after play resumed.
A needless penalty gave Dallas the man-advantage just over halfway through the period. The Stars made no mistake on the power play as Corey Perry capitalized off of a passing play from Mikko Heiskanen and Roope Hintz wound up on the Canadian’s stick. Perry fired a wrister from the left point into the back of the Knights net. Suddenly Vegas’ hot start had turned into a fiery nightmare.
Comeback Kids
Not to be outdone by Dallas’ three-goal period, Vegas came out firing on all cylinders in the third. Just before the final frame’s halfway mark, Stone found himself in the slot and put his shot behind Ben Bishop to pull his team within one.
With the momentum thoroughly in their court, the Golden Knights didn’t let up. Reilly Smith set up linemate Nate Schmidt for the tying goal just 1:29 after they had closed the gap to one.
Vegas’ latter two goal scorers combined to assist what could turn out to be the goal of the year courtesy of William Courier. The 25-year-old Montreal native showed off the skills he acquired in quarantine as he pulled off the between-the-legs-finish in the eventual game winning goal.
Just in case, William Karlsson added an empty net insurance policy with just 21 seconds left to play in the third.
The Bottom Line
The biggest takeaway for Vegas from this outing is that consistency really will be key. It would be hard not to notice the drop off however slight of the intensity, especially in the second period. Dallas’ defensive woes may have given the Knights a way back in, those may be harder to come by against a more solid Blues or Avalanche roster.