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The Knightly Recap: Week 8 Part 1

Andre ParaisoBy 6 Mins Read

Last week on the Knightly Recap, the Vegas Golden Knights finished off their four game set against the Colorado Avalanche and traveled down to Anaheim to face the Ducks. Also, their game against the San Jose Sharks was postponed due to a Sharks player testing positive for COVID-19.

This week on the Knightly Recap, the Golden Knights took on the Minnesota Wild for the first time this season in a two game homestand. And they finished this week off with their first back-to-back games this season against the Sharks in San Jose. There was lots of drama that happened this week but it was a worthy set of games for the Golden Knights in the end.

With that said, welcome to week eight of the Knightly Recap.

March 1 vs. Minnesota Wild

Welcome Back Knights Fans!

After nearly a year with no fans at T-Mobile Arena, the Golden Knights can allow fans back into the Fortress to watch Golden Knights games. Nevada’s governor, Steve Sisolak, announced that large gathering plans are allowed for submission and approval. As of March 8, the State of Nevada is allowing 100 individuals or 35% of fire code capacity for public gatherings and events with strict social distancing guidelines. For T-Mobile Arena, they’re allowed to have 2,600 people in their stands from the start of this game until March 15. On March 15, the state will return to “full pre-Pause levels” as they lift more restrictions.

It Was Wild From Start to Finish

This game featured a back-and-forth battle between two highly skilled offensive teams. Both teams had scoring chances during the first period but no one was able to put the puck into the net. However, it was the second period that silenced the Vegas Strong crowd for the majority of it. The Wild took over the second period with their aggressive, pressure defensive that forced the Golden Knights to commit turnovers. Wild forwards Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno and Nick Bonino scored four goals in just the second period alone with Foligno scoring twice. Golden Knights forwards Cody Glass and Max Pacioretty scored the team’s first two goals of the game; both on the power play.

The Comeback Kings Are Back

However, the Golden Knights didn’t want to disappoint the welcomed back crowd. So they did what they knew they could do best: make a comeback. A memorable one at best. With 7:20 left during the third period, Golden Knights defenseman Nic Hague scored his second goal of the season with a blast from the blue line to cut the Wild lead to one. And 42 seconds left, Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch tied the game at four to score his eighth of the season. Both goals were assisted by Golden Knights captain Mark Stone. More on him in a bit.

Putting the Final Patches to This Game

Both teams headed into overtime after the Golden Knights valiantly came back from a 4-2 deficit in the second period. With exactly two minutes into the extra period, Pacioretty scored his second of the game, the game winning goal and his tenth goal of the season. Who made the assist? Stone, of course. The VGK captain had to fight through Greenway to gain the zone and hold the puck to avoid Wild captain Jared Spurgeon to make the pass to Pacioretty. Pacioretty then went five hole on Wild goaltender Cam Talbot to complete the comeback.

O Captain, My Captain!

Now to talk about Stone’s performance in this game. Stone assisted on all five goals and it wasn’t just any assist. They were all primary assists meaning he was the last player to touch the puck before it went into the net. This game marks Stone’s first career five point game along with his first five assist game. The captain had 17 points coming into this game and now has 22 points.

March 3 vs. Minnesota Wild

Better Start. Less Wild for the Wild.

The Golden Knights had a better start to this game than the last. Tuch scored the game’s first goal within the first two minutes of the first period. Also, the Golden Knights were able to maintain a steady momentum pace not allowing themselves to be in the game. But, just like the first period last game, both teams had opportunistic scoring chances. One of the biggest chances came from Spurgeon in the dying seconds of the first period before Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made a crucial save.

The second period wasn’t as chaotic as the previous game. Only two goals were scored during the period coming from Foligno and Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault.

From Less Wild to Wildin’ Out

Even though the Wild didn’t put on a scoring barrage in the second period, they came into the third period with a scorer’s mentality. They outshot the Golden Knights 20-8; however, they couldn’t figure out how to score on Fleury this game. On the other hand, the Golden Knights scored on three of their eight shots in the period from Stone and Golden Knights forwards Chandler Stephenson and William Karlsson.

Fleury Continues to Bloom After a Not So Good Performance

Fleury definitely wanted to redeem himself this game after letting in four goals in the second period the game prior. The first period save against Spurgeon was a huge one for the Golden Knights as that could’ve given the Wild momentum heading into the second period. The Vezina favorite goaltender kept his team in the game all night long despite the Wild shooting 20 shots on net.

Another Two Parter for the Knightly Recap

More news and analysis equals more content the read and enjoy. To see the rest of this week’s Knightly Recap, click here.

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