Las Vegas Golden Knights Archives - The Answer is 42 LLC

The Avalanche jumped out to an early lead, Vegas fought back. Entering 3rd tied, they just couldn’t finish falling in OT.

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The Colorado Avalanche got to jump out to an early lead for the first time since the first of back-to-backs against the Coyotes on Monday. As Joonas Donskoi deposited his 12th of the season to continue his hot streak with 3 goals in his last 4. He split 3 Knights defenders with a sweet deke, then deposited the wrister off the crossbar and in. Joonas at this level makes this team scoring deeper than any other. No matter who has the puck, you have to worry about it being deposited in the cage.

The Golden Knights showed why they have been in first place most of the season when they answered at 16:32 into the opening period. Alec Martinez scored his 4th of the season with 6 seconds to go in the Power Play when his shot was deflected by Sam Girard’s stick as he tried to get in the shooting path. The puck then ricocheted off the stick and just over the shoulder of Philipp Grubauer. Both teams had 2 chances at the PP, Vegas was the only team to capitalize. And they did it against the 2nd best penalty kill in the league in the Avalanche.

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The game did not stay notched up for long as Devon Toews and Nathan MacKinnon worked their deadly 2-man game and Mack set up Toews beautifully with a perfect pass and Toews put a one-timer past Marc-Andrei Fleury. This was despite the Avs being outshot 12-10. Something that rarely happens, with Gru trying to show the league why he needs to be mentioned when talking about the game’s best goaltenders. Only allowing that trick shot by Martinez past him in the first.

This Colorado Avalanche also showed you they are not soft as after an illegal hit on rookie Bo Byram, vet Dan Renouf was having none of it as he immediately jumped into a fight throwing at least a couple dozen punches before refs broke it up. This team has no fear, whether on offense, defense, or fighting. This team will scrap with anyone, which is why they were able to leave the first with a 2-1 lead.

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Las Vegas didn’t waste any time in the 2nd tying things up, they really had much higher energy than we all saw on Thursday. After a flurry of activity in the Avalanche end and some nifty skating by William Carrier to get in position to catch a rebound. He put a one-timer over the stick of Gru for his 2nd at 3:40 into the period. Ryan Reaves also showed why he is a feared defender, littering the ice with Avalanche players every chance he got.

There would be no more scoring in the period. But what you got was treated to 2 evenly matched top-tier teams play elite hockey. You saw the Golden Knights press their size advantage, then Colorado counter with speed and guile. It was an absolute clinic on clean, mistake-proof hockey. You saw Gru looking down point-blank wristers without blinking. Fleury somehow finds every puck, no matter how much traffic is in front of him. You saw Whitecloud and Reaves scattering bodies across the ice. Then you would see Joonas, Girard or MacKinnon put a defender in the spin cycle. It was non-stop action for the final 16 minutes of the period. This is where the greats are made, these types of matchups.

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The 3rd period had the league’s 2nd best defense/penalty kill (Avalanche) and the 3rd best (Golden Knights) go head to head and not blink. With 8:32 to go, the Knights had still outshot the Avalanche 29-22. The Avs really didn’t have a chance to get anything going offensively with 2 penalties to kill in that time frame. But after Graves returned to the ice after that second successful penalty kill by Colorado. The pressure began to push the Knights back, the puck just couldn’t find the back of the net for either side. Grubauer and Fluery absolutely refused to let anything past in the final period which ended how it started, tied at 2-2.

Then came overtime, and you got another seeming chaotic stream of scoring opportunities on both sides. Then it all ended when Max Pacioretty’s stick was stronger than Devon Teow’s for his 18th of the year. This may not have ended the way Avalanche fans wanted. But they should not be disappointed. They are now one point back of this Golden Knights squad after taking 3 of 4 points, and they showed they have the ability to be physical with the “big boys” of the division. It was truly the luck of the puck today, and Vegas turned up Aces.

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Up Next:

Vs Anaheim Ducks, Monday, March 29 at 7:00 PM MST

Where to watch:

Denver Market: Altitude TV

Anaheim Market: Fox Sports San Diego

The first 40 seconds of the game saw the Colorado Avalanche down 1-0 against the Golden Knights. Then they buried the Knights in a flurry of goals 5-1.

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The Colorado Avalanche came out with an energy not seen since the last time they were in Ball Arena. Unfortunately, the Las Vegas Golden Knights matched that energy and made more of their opportunities in the opening third. Both teams had multiple breakaways with Max Pacioretty the only one able to capitalize with his 17th tucked under the arm of Grubauer :40 into the match.

The Avalanche had ample opportunities with 2 pure breakaways and second-chance opportunities. None better than a wrap-around attempt by Cale Makar at 19:02 into the game that saw Joonas Donskoi put the rebound on goal. Giving the Avalanche 2 shots on goal in 2 seconds. But this was against Marc-Andre Fleury who came in with a 16-6 record, 1.93 GAA, and .931 save %. Fleury was magnificent in the first, effortlessly flicking away and mid-air snatching everything thrown his way. The Avs more than doubled up the Knights 11 to 5 in shots on goal. Yet were down 1-0 after one period of play.

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When met with an immovable object, you must go around. That is exactly what Joonas Donskoi did with his 11th of the year at 4:04 that was even more insane than Mikko brushing dirt off Kahkonen’s shoulder. Somehow the man was able to get the perfect bounce on a deflected pass from Sam Girard while pulling a 180-spin right as and right as the puck hit the ice, tucking it under the glove of Fleury with a slap-shot. Sometimes you also need a little luck mixed with insane athleticism.

Then J.T. Compher said “Assists? We need no stinking assists!” as he split the Golden Knight’s defense and deposited his 11th in the back of the cage just inside the left post on a sweet wrist-shot at 9:15 with his 3rd goal. Then at 12:37 in Cale Makar showed his 2-way ability with his 3rd, put right through the 5-hole of Fleury. For as stoic and calm Fleury was in the first, he was just as shaky in the 2nd. The dam was broken, with no stop-gap in sight.

Here is that insane goal by Joonas courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche Social Team:

It doesn't have to be pretty.
It just needs to go in the net.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/UrTpkzPKMa
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 26, 2021

Gabriel Landeskog then decided to get in on the action with his 11th goal and 480th career point, moving him into sole possession of 8th-place all-time in Avalanche history. Moving him one spot ahead of Alex Tanguay officially, a spot behind teammate MacKinnon (530). The Captain put the exclamation point on a dominant period that saw the Avalanche out-shoot the Golden Knights again 14-4, but them capitalizing to the tune of a 4-1 lead after 2 periods.

Here is that top-10 courtesy of the Colorado Avalanche Social Team:

That's our Captain, leading as always.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/JnMClcEGQV
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 26, 2021

The 3rd saw the Golden Knights come out with fervor, pressuring the Avs for the first almost 4-minutes of the period. Keeping the Avalanche in their own end for almost that entire time. But the home-team only needs a crack in the defense to capitalize. That is exactly what happened when Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and J.T. Compher found themselves ahead of the defense after a Knights turnover in the neutral zone. After some smooth skating and adept puck handling, Bellemare was able to put it inside the right post for his 4th.

Some more of that good luck came back as a missed off-sides call cost the Golden Knights a goal with 5:33 to go when Jared Bednar challenged the call on what would have been Nicolas Roy’s 2nd goal of the season. That would leave the final score of 5-1. The Avalanche showed why even though they play in the forgotten time-zone, they should not be the forgotten team when discussing Stanley Cup competitors. Both teams are off Friday before a Saturday matinee re-match where Colorado can take sole possession of 1st in the West.