GDT: WDF Game 2: Vegas Golden Knights @ Colorado Avalanche | 7:00PM PT | NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS

[Vegas07]

I figured our pathetic power play was going to kill us in the playoffs. If we can’t stop the Avs from scoring on the power play, we’re at too big of a disadvantage because our power play is useless.

 

[Pia8988]

They showed they can dominate the Avs 5 on 5. Just win the next two.

 

[Vegas07]

Funny how the refs make calls in the playoffs that lead to power plays that kill us. Game 7 at Sharks, another 5 minute major against Vancouver that we barely survived in game 7, game 1 against Minnesota, game 5 against Dallas and now this game. The Capitals scored some big goals on the power play too. The refs took a goal from us in game 2 of the 2018 series with them that nearly cost us the series.

And people say the refs are on our side.

 

[BlueKnight]

That was Smith's fault that we lost. A careless penalty yes the Avs player should've held the stick tighter but Smith slashed the stick out of the hands of the Avs player. Still a careless penalty to take. Just my opinion.

 

[The Duck Knight]

Anyone that calls that a slash needs to have their eyes checked. It was a weak stick check.

 

[Boris Zubov]

That was Smith's fault that we lost. A careless penalty yes the Avs player should've held the stick tighter but Smith slashed the stick out of the hands of the Avs player. Still a careless penalty to take. Just my opinion.

You're not going to find much agreement here. Refs deciding the outcome is the last thing you want to see in a game like this.

 

[Pia8988]

Anyone that calls that a slash needs to have their eyes checked. It was a weak stick check.

Why hold on to your stick when you can just get your team PPs

 

[azvgk]

Win or lose, we showed we can really dominate them. This wasn't the usual PDB take shots from the point and score one goal a game. Avs were just holding on last two periods for the most part. I have trouble thinking we're going to win 4 of the next 5 but I think we showed we're a real good team.

Not giving up on this year, but next year we're in a division with Seattle, San Jose, Ducks, LA and Vancouver. Basically we're in the playoffs barring a miracle, maybe Krebs with an offseason can be a first line center, move Stephenson with Tuch - scary great speed, no hands though - while every other team loses a player in the expansion draft. I still think the future is extremely bright.

Meanwhile we lost tonight on bad puck luck and a horrendous call that's almost never called in OT.

 

[VEGASKING]

6 pp to 3, another brutal call in ot leading to game winner and 90% of the posts on the main board the next 12 hours will still be about reffing bias going the opposite way.

Both OT games this year they took a penalty on the first shift. Impressive stuff.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

What ever happened to the stick better be shattered to get a slashing call in the playoffs? I can't recall a vgk playoff win in OT ever. It's always been a high shot count disparity game in Vegas' favor and with a quick loss in OT on either a brutal call or in this case AND Fleury loses it quickly in OT on a shot that he's been stopping all night long. And I swear Alex Tuch has missed a career's worth of open net shots because he failed to elevate the puck. No room for error at all in these next two home games. Karlsson was also winning most of the key faceoffs tonight until OT and he turned back into 2018 mid 40s% in faceoff win percentage. I hope McNabb is back for game 3. I feel safer with him out there than Pie who seems to forget how to play D whenever he's facing the Avs.

 

[Vegan Knight]

What ever happened to the stick better be shattered to get a slashing call in the playoffs? I can't recall a vgk playoff win in OT ever. It's always been a high shot count disparity game in Vegas' favor and with a quick loss in OT on either a brutal call or in this case AND Fleury loses it quickly in OT on a shot that he's been stopping all night long. And I swear Alex Tuch has missed a career's worth of open net shots because he failed to elevate the puck. No room for error at all in these next two home games. Karlsson was also winning most of the key faceoffs tonight until OT and he turned back into 2018 mid 40s% in faceoff win percentage. I hope McNabb is back for game 3. I feel safer with him out there than Pie who seems to forget how to play D whenever he's facing the Avs.

We beat the kings and Sharks in OT inaugural season I remember those vividly. And the Blackhawks as well in the bubble.

 

[willy702]

Win or lose, we showed we can really dominate them. This wasn't the usual PDB take shots from the point and score one goal a game. Avs were just holding on last two periods for the most part. I have trouble thinking we're going to win 4 of the next 5 but I think we showed we're a real good team.

Not giving up on this year, but next year we're in a division with Seattle, San Jose, Ducks, LA and Vancouver. Basically we're in the playoffs barring a miracle, maybe Krebs with an offseason can be a first line center, move Stephenson with Tuch - scary great speed, no hands though - while every other team loses a player in the expansion draft. I still think the future is extremely bright.

Meanwhile we lost tonight on bad puck luck and a horrendous call that's almost never called in OT.

Yep very uncharacteristic of PDB teams, lots of cross slot passes and not a ton of point shots. Maybe the ass whipping showed them they have to play a different style to win. All four lines were factors out there too. Without Reaves and McNabb we didn't see so much of the hitting at any cost stuff and look how much better the team plays. That was a great game, great bounce back and just unfortunate the posts weren't friendly for the Knights. That was the type of game everyone wanted to see these two teams playing.

Now please send Reaves down to the taxi squad.

 

[LadyStanley]

Oye

 

[Vegan Knight]

Win or lose, we showed we can really dominate them. This wasn't the usual PDB take shots from the point and score one goal a game. Avs were just holding on last two periods for the most part. I have trouble thinking we're going to win 4 of the next 5 but I think we showed we're a real good team.

Not giving up on this year, but next year we're in a division with Seattle, San Jose, Ducks, LA and Vancouver. Basically we're in the playoffs barring a miracle, maybe Krebs with an offseason can be a first line center, move Stephenson with Tuch - scary great speed, no hands though - while every other team loses a player in the expansion draft. I still think the future is extremely bright.

Meanwhile we lost tonight on bad puck luck and a horrendous call that's almost never called in OT.

The Oilers could easily be a much better team with Klefbom back and 25 million to find some secondary scoring and reliable goaltending in the offseason.

Colorado will only get better the next few years as Byram and Newhook step in and Makar matures.

Our fan base of all people shouldn't underestimate what Seattle could be.

Winnipeg can be a very dangerous team if they find a top 4 defenseman.

LA plays us tough and could be coming faster than we think depending on their offseason.

The west will be no cakewalk, arguably the easiest year we may have is this year.

 

[Vegan Knight]

Tuch should have shot quickly on the breakaway when he had the chance. Grubauer was backing up after realizing he wouldn't get the puck and wasn't set and Tuch skated in to try to deke him or something. Grubauer got the extra second or so to recover.

 

[willy702]

The Oilers could easily be a much better team with Klefbom back and 25 million to find some secondary scoring and reliable goaltending in the offseason.

Colorado will only get better the next few years as Byram and Newhook step in and Makar matures.

Our fan base of all people shouldn't underestimate what Seattle could be.

Winnipeg can be a very dangerous team if they find a top 4 defenseman.

LA plays us tough and could be coming faster than we think depending on their offseason.

The west will be no cakewalk, arguably the easiest year we may have is this year.

Avs going to lose some players as the cap space disappears. Grubauer and Landeskog could be UFAs, although both probably get signed and eat up the space. Makar going to get a big raise. No chance Saad gets signed and they probably have to give up Graves or Burakovsky in the expansion draft, but maybe both just to open some space. And then MacKinnon is perhaps the biggest steal of a contract in all of sports, he's due a large raise.

Basically this Avs team is as good as it will be, so yeah others might be tougher, but hard to say there will be a more talented team in the NHL for awhile. Knights did great to outplay them tonight, but not sure that kind of possession and chances domination can be repeated rest of the series.

 

[Hal 9000]

I can't believe what I just saw from the refs.

 

[CupInSIX]

They have to seize their opportunities. Smith had a Marchesault hat trick last night.

That was a tremendous effort, and something to build on going back home.

 

[Nevada Jones]

At least I didn't have to bail early on this one, unlike game 1.

If I had, my punishment was going to be watching Downton Abbey with Mrs. Jones.

Thanks, VGK!

 

[hangman005]

At least I didn't have to bail early on this one, unlike game 1.

If I had, my punishment was going to be watching Downton Abbey with Mrs. Jones.

Thanks, VGK!

I've already told Mrs Jones to get the box set of it for you for Christmas.

 

[VEGASKING]

So am I the only one feeling like we're going to be the next version of the Sharks, although I'd be shocked if it lasted anywhere close to as long as they managed to stay good? Coming off being a fan of a mostly terrible franchise that finally won two cups after 25 years of fandom I'm not sure what to think about it. Being a good to great regular season team that underachieves in the post season and being a bad team with no expectations or hope are different versions of misery. What say you?

 

[willy702]

So am I the only one feeling like we're going to be the next version of the Sharks, although I'd be shocked if it lasted anywhere close to as long as they managed to stay good? Coming off being a fan of a mostly terrible franchise that finally won two cups after 25 years of fandom I'm not sure what to think about it. Being a good to great regular season team that underachieves in the post season and being a bad team with no expectations or hope are different versions of misery. What say you?

It is a little eerie. I followed the Sharks before the Knights and every year they would find ways to run into a way of no goals at the worst possible time as just run of the mill opposing goalies would regularly steal games from them. First rounds were usually ok, but sometime around 2nd or 3rd round they would go on a 2-3 game cold streak and not recover. And often it was the same thing we see with VGK, too many shots on goal that are easy to save and not enough deflections or gritty goals to win in the playoffs. Funny part was before they got Thornton and got really good, the Sharks were just this 7th or 8th place team that overachieved in the playoffs because they didn't get cute and just grinded their ways to wins. Mike Ricci, about as talented offensively as guys on the VGK fourth line, would always score game tying or winning goals where the puck just found him in front of the net. Owen Nolan was as clutch as they came, he'd play better when the stage was bigger. But after the Sharks became an elite team with lots of gaudy regular season numbers, those kinds of players just sort of disappeared. They did get the one finals trip with PDB where Martin Jones actually looked like a top 10 goalie and Pavelski and Couture just drove opponents crazy with tips and rebound goals, but that was it.

I'm not sure that's enough to learn something from, but to me VGK is at least for the time being kind of like that Sharks team. Not enough goal scoring grit and not enough games where your goalie steals a game you didn't deserve. I do think they might get one of those with MAF in this series, but consistently making big plays when it matters most doesn't seem like it is in this team's bag of tools. It was there year one, but since they decided to play more like and get players who resemble top regular season teams, that magic is gone. Its why I have been saying they need to stop chasing all these top FAs and just make do with what they have in the system and supplement it with some lower paid veterans. Guy like Janmark makes sense, I could see him scoring some big goals in the playoffs. Stastny has a knack for that as well, he's never been a great regular season guy but he'd be huge to have right now.

 

[CupInSIX]

After Boston gifted them Thornton, the Sharts had over a decade of building their team through trades & the draft to create a complete team that should have won the Cup at least once in that span.

For the past 4 years, Vegas has been adding wingers, defensemen and a goalie and are the best version yet - but they have yet to find a true elite 1C. I like their chances when they add that 1C and the prospects mature.

 

[Pia8988]

After Boston gifted them Thornton, the Sharts had over a decade of building their team through trades & the draft to create a complete team that should have won the Cup at least once in that span.

For the past 4 years, Vegas has been adding wingers, defensemen and a goalie and are the best version yet - but they have yet to find a true elite 1C. I like their chances when they add that 1C and the prospects mature.

Foley has shown that he has zero patience on this matter. Except the prospects gone for another splash if they lose out to Colorado. Outside of trading, best case is hoping Glass eventually figures it out.

 

[Vegan Knight]

San Jose- not cashing in on years of being good. Should have had a cup.

Boston- years of being good with one cup to show for it but the feeling another could have been had. Assuming they don't this year. Seguin, Hamilton, 2015 Draft, they could have been in an even better position.

LA- good teams and took full advantage and overachieved by an extra cup what they maybe should have.

St. Louis- solid team for years, never the favorite and overshadowed by a better team. Eventually cash one in by retooling on the fly. One cup seems about right.

We'll be one of them, depending if we win or not and how good we look winning or losing.

Teams we're probably not.
Chicago- 3 in 6, very much could have, maybe should have, gotten 3 in a row and 4 in 6. Dynasty.