Golden Knights: 4 Different Goalies in 4 Games

Gold for the Golden Knights: The win-streak record for the Vegas Golden Knights is ten which they set during the shortened 2020-21 season. Their record that season was 40-14-2, and they finished first in the Western Conference with 82 points. This season’s record so far is 46-21-6, and they have also ranked first in the Western Conference again. They currently have 98 points with ten games remaining. They also are now on a 4-game win streak as of this weekend. While the VGK had a bit of a slower start to this 2022-23 season, they’ve completely turned it around after the All-Star Break. Not only did the VGK win all of their last couple of games, but they also managed to make NHL history. 

VGK Make NHL History: Each of their last four games were played with a different Vegas goaltender, which is the first time that has ever happened in the NHL. A different Vegas goaltender minded the net for each game: Jiri Patera, Jonathan Quick, Logan Thompson, and Laurent Brossoit. Logan Thompson’s game on March 23 against the Calgary Flames was his first one back from his most recent injury. While he played incredibly, he got injured again with 6 minutes left in regulation, being replaced by Jonathan Quick for the remainder. Reilly Smith also got injured during their win against Calgary. 

March 19, 2023: Last Sunday, the 19th, the Golden Knights beat the Columbus Blue Jackets with a final score of 7-2. Jiri Patera, who has spent most of this season playing for the Henderson Silver Knights, was in net for the night and played excellently. For that game, his save percentage was 0.946, as he saved 35 out of 37 shots taken on him. Patera was easily able to snag the third star of the game along with Eichel and Pietrangelo. Jack Eichel got his 4th NHL career Hat Trick, and Phil Kessel, Pavel Dorofeyev, Paul Cotter, and Zach Whitecloud all added single goals to the scoreboard. As a team, the VGK had 41 shots on goal, 60% of the faceoff wins, 2/2 on the powerplay, and only four penalty minutes. Undoubtedly, the Golden Knights had a solid start to their week full of wins last Sunday. 

March 21, 2023: 2 days after their win against the Blue Jackets, the Golden Knights took another one, this time against the Vancouver Canucks. This was the first of two games this week that they won with a score of 4-3. They didn’t have as strong of a game as they did against the CBJ, but they played a harder team and still did incredible. That night, they had Jonathan Quick in goal finishing the game with his save percentage of the night at 0.912. He saved 31 out of 34 shots, only allowing 3 to hit the back of the net. Thankfully, the other players on the ice were able to catch back up to the Canucks, and finish the game with a second win of the week. The Golden Knights were out-shot by the Canucks, but they were more accurate with their 27 shots. The VGK won 53% of the game’s faceoffs, went 0/4 on the powerplay, and had 17 hits and 4 PIM for the second night in a row. Although Vegas prevailed, they only had one player on the list of the night’s three stars, and it was Pietrangelo. Tuesday was a great night; however, some things could be worked on to better improve for the next time they face the Canucks.

March 23, 2023: Thursday, the VGK faced the Calgary Flames and won 3-2. In this game, Logan Thompson returned from injured reserve, only to be put on it again due to another injury. Thompson played 53:53 minutes of the game, but Quick had to close it out. During this game, both Logan Thompson and Reilly Smith got injuries at different points in the game, and neither returned for Saturday’s game against Edmonton. While Thompson was in the game, he had achieved the best save percentage out of all four goalies that played last week, with a total percentage of the game being 0.949. He was able to stop 37 of the 39 shots he faced, allowing only two goals. He didn’t manage to get one of the three stars of the game, as the only 2 Vegas players to get one were Michael Amadio and Jonathan Marchessault, as they were 2 of the 3 VGKs to score that night. Although Logan Thompson didn’t finish the game or get one of the three stars, he got the credit for the win, as Jonathan Quick only faced five total shots during his time in net. Once again, the Knights were out-shot as they only managed to take 32. They also only had 4 PIM again, along with 12 hits, being 0/1 on the power play, and they won 52% of faceoffs. This game was a huge win against Calgary, as they are one of the NHL’s physically strongest teams. 

March 25, 2023: The last game of this long but exciting week for the VGK and their fans was Saturday, the 25th. They beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in overtime, with this being the only game out of their past four that went past regulation. The Oilers were arguably the hardest matchup for the VGK, but they played excellently as they did in the previous three games. That night’s goalie from Vegas was Laurent Brossoit, and he played great, considering the team they played had a lot more speed than the Knights. The VGK out-shot Edmonton with 34 shots on goal. They were 52% on the faceoffs, 1-for-2 on the power play, and had 25 total hits along with six total PIM. Their game against Edmonton was the one game this past week in which they got the most PIM and hits, showing that they played harder and more aggressively against this very skilled and fast opponent.

Big Points for the VGK Players: It can easily be seen that this last week was a huge one for the Vegas Golden Knights as they won every game they played and got a total of 7 points. Along with those big 7, some VGK players got some huge personal numbers. Jack Eichel had the most this week as he got his 4th NHL hat trick, helping him get seven total points: five goals and two assists. Reilly Smith, who got injured while taking a big hit on Thursday, still managed to end the week with a goal and an assist. Shea Theodore, Jonathan Marchessault, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Phil Kessel all got 4 points each. Theodore got all his points by assisting goals, Kessel and Marchessault got theirs evenly with two goals and two assists, and Dorofeyev got three goals along with a single assist. The next game for the Vegas Golden Knights is tomorrow, the 28th, in which they’ll face the Edmonton Oilers again.