Close Menu
NHL

The Knightly Recap: Week 14

Andre ParaisoBy Updated:7 Mins Read

Last week on the Knightly Recap, the Vegas Golden Knights went on a two game road trip to face the St. Louis Blues for the final two times in St. Louis, MO winning one of the two meetings. And they faced the Arizona Coyotes in a two game homestand winning the first meeting despite almost losing their lead.

This week on the Knightly Recap, the Golden Knights finish off their two game homestand against the Coyotes. And they’ll be back on the road, once again, to finish off their season series against the Los Angeles Kings. They’ll also face the Anaheim Ducks to finish off this four game road trip. With that said, welcome to week fourteen of the Knightly Recap.

April 11 vs. Arizona Coyotes

Not As Easy As Last Game

The Golden Knights definitely had to work harder to win a much needed two points as they continued to keep pace with the Colorado Avalanche for the first seed in the Honda West Division. However, the faceoffs played a huge role in this game as the Golden Knights won 65.3 percent of the draws which was the highest for the team this season. Defense and goaltending also played a role as the Golden Knights held the Coyotes to 14 shots on goal.

Fleury Is Still the G.O.A.T

After the Golden Knights notched their 27th win this season, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury climbed up the ranks of the NHL’s winningest goaltenders of all-time. Fleury is now tied with Ed Belfour for fourth place with 484 career wins. Also, Fleury recorded his 66th shutout tying Patrick Roy for 15th all-time for most shutouts.

This goes to show why Fleury is still a Vezina favorite this season despite averaging a 2.09 GAA.

Final score: 1-0 VGK

Goal scorer: VGK – Tomas Nosek (10:38 3rd Period)

April 12 at Los Angeles Kings

Down Two Goals? No Problem.

The Kings won their last meeting against the Golden Knights by dictating the pace and tempo of the game. And that was no different as Kings forward Austin Wagner scored before the halfway mark of the first period. Kings captain Anze Kopitar followed suit during the next period recording his ninth goal of the season.

However, the Golden Knights started to find their game and forward Nicolas Roy found a way to score on Kings goaltender Cal Petersen during the second. Up until this game, Petersen seemed to be the Golden Knights worst nightmare whenever he was in net for the Kings. But that changed as this game went along. For the Golden Knights, they needed their top goal scorers and players to start finding ways to score goals again. And that was no issue in this game.

Lose 4-2. Win 4-2 Plus a Milestone.

After Roy cut the Kings lead to one, the Golden Knights went on to score three more unanswered goals. Once more during the second period from Golden Knights captain Mark Stone and twice in the third period from forwards Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch.

Pacioretty also recorded his 300th career goal during their second power play and became the 21st American born NHL player to reach that mark.

Final score: 4-2 VGK

Goal scorers: LAK – Austin Wagner (9:41 1st Period), Anze Kopitar (8:57 2nd Period)

VGK – Nicolas Roy (14:20 2nd Period), Mark Stone (19:33 2nd Period), Alex Tuch (4:35 3rd Period), Max Pacioretty (8:22 3rd Period)

April 14 at Los Angeles Kings

From the Ice to the Bench

The Golden Knights knew how important each game is at this point of the season. And that’s why they had to win as many games as possible to, one, keep pace with the Avalanche. Second, to regain the top seed in the division.

Their play during the first period showed their winning mentality scoring three times despite giving up a power play goal. After the third Golden Knights goal, which was scored by Pacioretty, Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was kicked out of the net after letting in three goals out of eight shots on net. Petersen came in to face the Golden Knights for the final time this season.

Goal Scoring Problems? Not Anymore.

The Golden Knights had struggled to score goals with consistency during the last couple weeks of March despite having a 12-5 record for that month. However, they’ve been able to score at least one goal in their last three games heading into this matchup. These goal scorers have come from star players to role players and this game was no different.

But the really neat aspect of this is that Pacioretty, Stone and Tuch have scored two games in a row which seems promising heading into the playoffs.

Holding Down the Fourth

After the game, Fleury now holds sole possession of being the fourth winningest goaltender in NHL history with 485 wins passing Belfour. Fleury is now four wins away from tying Roberto Luongo with 489 career wins.

Final score: 6-2 VGK

Goal scorers: LAK – Trevor Moore (13:38 1st Period, 18:22 2nd Period)

VGK – Tomas Nosek (7:18 1st Period), Alex Tuch (11:04 1st Period), Max Pacioretty (15:25 1st Period), Chandler Stephenson (15:47 2nd Period), Mark Stone (5:28 3rd Period), Alex Pietrangelo (10:53 3rd Period)

April 16 at Anaheim Ducks

A Shutdown Game

Everything about this game screams Golden Knights. Their blueprint was practically all over this game completely dominating a struggling Ducks team. Overall, the Golden Knights had 51 shots on goal with 23 of them coming in the second period. Though the first period seemed to be the closest period as momentum shifted between both teams.

Another Dominant Second Period

The Golden Knights aren’t known to perform well during the second period but this season proved to be different. There have been times where the Golden Knights have a good second period performance and this game was one of them. They scored three unanswered goals with Golden Knights forward William Karlsson scoring nine seconds into the period.

From that point on, the Golden Knights never looked back barely giving the Ducks any chance to stay in this game whatsoever.

16 saves for 16th Career Shutout

Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner has been playing exceptionally well since returning from a minor shoulder injury that kept him out of action for several weeks. In this game, he didn’t have to work as hard in this game only saving 16 of 16 Ducks shots. This is Lehner’s first shutout this season, second with the Golden Knights and 16th in his career.

Up Next on the Knightly Recap

The Golden Knights will finish off their two game set against the Ducks before heading straight back home to play another game against the San Jose Sharks in a back-to-back affair. They’ll also play the Sharks two days after for the final time at Las Vegas, NV this season. And, to finish off the week, the Golden Knights will finish their season series against the Ducks.

In other news, the Avalanche got hit with a COVID-19 outbreak and their next three games have been postponed. This means that the Golden Knights have a chance to either tie or retake the top spot from the Avalanche in the West division before their next matchup on April 26. Currently the Golden Knights are two points behind the Avalanche with 62 points.

Until then, stay tuned for the next Knightly Recap.

Leave A Reply