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The Knightly Recap: Week 15

Andre ParaisoBy Updated:7 Mins Read

Last week on the Knightly Recap, the Vegas Golden Knights finished their two game homestand against the Arizona Coyotes. They also had a four game road trip against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks in which they finished their series against both teams.

This week on the Knightly Recap, the Golden Knights play one more road game against the Anaheim Ducks before heading back home on a back-to-back. They’ll play the San Jose Sharks at home before heading back on the road to finish off their season series against the Ducks. With that said, welcome to week 15 of the Knightly Recap.

April 18 at Anaheim Ducks

A Balanced Game With a Lopsided Result

In all honesty, this game brought back memories of how both teams played against one another earlier this season. It was a competitive battle with both teams gaining momentum periodically throughout each period.

Both teams scored at least one goal in each period but the Golden Knights’ hot streak of scoring goals continues to be the difference. Especially from the Golden Knights captain Mark Stone who extended his point streak to four straight games. This is a really great sign for Golden Knights fans heading into the playoffs.

Golden Knights Show Second Period Progress

The Golden Knights aren’t known to shine the brightest during second period play but they’re starting to show that they can dominate any period whether the margin is large or small. They’ve scored at least one goal during the second period in their last three games heading into this matchup.

If they’re able to keep this up, then they’re that much more of a threat to win the Stanley Cup this season.

Final score: 5-2 VGK

Goal scorers: ANA – Max Comtois (6:23 1st Period), Danton Heinen (14:06 2nd Period)

VGK – Max Pacioretty (3:25 1st Period), Alex Pietrangelo (14:46 1st Period), Nicolas Roy (3:43 2nd Period), Mark Stone (18:13 2nd Period), Alex Tuch (18:33 3rd Period)

April 19 vs. San Jose Sharks

G.O.A.T Talk And It’s Not About Fleury This Time

Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has been praised not only in these weekly recaps but throughout the season. And who’s to blame us for that? Fleury has been playing outstanding this season and is even a Vezina Trophy favorite.

However, this night belonged to Sharks forward Patrick Marleau who’s now played the most games in the NHL with 1,768 games. Marleau passes the late great Gordie Howe who had the record for over 50 years. Both the Golden Knights organization and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman applauded Marleau on this amazing feat.

Sharks Almost Pulled Off a Perfect Night For Marleau

Throughout this game, the Sharks were able to keep up with the Golden Knights’ high powered offense. But that shouldn’t be a surprise at this point given the history between both teams in the last four years. The Sharks scored the game’s first two goals during the first and second periods from forwards Nikolai Knyzhov and Noah Gregor.

However, the power play prevailed for the Golden Knights in this game with Stone scoring both PPGs in the second and third periods to force overtime. During overtime, both teams had prime scoring chances to finish the game but both Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones made huge saves to keep the game alive.

Panda Came to Eat During the Shootout

Lehner was 0-2 in shootouts this season and Jones 5-1. Also, Lehner isn’t known to be the goaltender during the shootout. But this time around was different.

Lehner saved all three Sharks shootout shots while Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch scored the game winning goal on the team’s second shootout shot.

Final score: 3-2 VGK (SO)

Goal scorers: SJS – Nikolai Knyzhov (9:27 1st Period), Noah Gregor (00:29 2nd Period)

VGK – Mark Stone (1:22 1st Period, 3:29 2nd Period), Alex Tuch (SO)

April 21 vs. San Jose Sharks

Sharks Scoring First? No Problem.

For the second game in a row, the Sharks scored the game’s first goal during the first period. This time from forward Timo Meier. However, Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault scored just over four minutes after Meier’s goal in the same period.

From there, the Golden Knights carried the momentum with their strong, heavy defense despite being outshot 25-21 in the second and third periods.

Going Back For Another Round

After the game, the Golden Knights became the first team this season to clinch a spot in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Golden Knights plan to use this moment as more motivation to keep winning games and gaining more crucial points as they finish off these last few sets of games in the regular season.

Final score: 5-2 VGK

Goal scorers: SJS – Timo Meier (2:38 1st Period), Tomas Hertl (11:07 2nd Period)

VGK – Jonathan Marchessault (6:51 1st Period, 13:18 3rd Period), Mark Stone (12:52 2nd Period), Alex Tuch (19:10 2nd Period),  Mattias Janmark (19:04 3rd Period, First as a Golden Knight)

April 26 at Anaheim Ducks

Big Win Before the Big Game

The Golden Knights needed these two points to stay ahead of the Colorado Avalanche who overtook first place in the Honda West Division earlier this month. The Avalanche probably would still be in first place had they not gone through a COVID-19 outbreak that sat them out for three games. The Avalanche resumed play on April 22 and won 4-2 against the St. Louis Blues.

But when the Avalanche were sidelined, the Golden Knights not only had to win these games this week but also make a statement. And this game showed exactly that granted it was against a struggling Ducks team. However, the Golden Knights still couldn’t underestimate this team as they’ve taken them to the limits in past games this season. The Golden Knights are currently four points ahead of the Avalanche with 70 points and play them in their next game.

Does John Gibson Want Out of Anaheim? Probably.

Ducks goaltender John Gibson is undoubtedly the team’s best player these past few seasons. However, with the team struggling to get back into the playoffs, he seems to be disgruntled with the situation. This can be proven by a foreshadowing type move that he did during the third period.

After the goal, Gibson tossed his goalie stick in the air and made an attempt to catch it but failed to do so. And when the camera showed his face, he didn’t seem to be into the game anymore. Whether or not Gibson was frustrated at that moment we’ll probably won’t know.

Final score: 5-1 VGK

Goal scorers: ANA – Sam Steel (2:00 3rd Period)

VGK – Chandler Stephenson (00:26 1st Period, 14:44 1st Period), William Carrier (6:12 2nd Period), William Karlsson (5:39 3rd Period), Shea Theodore (7:17 3rd Period)

Up Next on the Knightly Recap

As mentioned before, the Golden Knights will face the Avalanche in a game that will determine who will have a big momentum push heading into the playoffs. Also, with the Avalanche sidelined for three games, their April 26 matchup was postponed. This gave the Golden Knights a three day rest period which is well needed.

The Golden Knights will then travel to Arizona to face the Coyotes in a back-to-back set of games to finish off their season series.

The month of April treated the Golden Knights just as well, if not better, than March. Can they keep their winning streak going and push it to 10 wins in a row? Find out in the next Knightly Recap.

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