FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Avalanche- Game 13

The tilt between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon was an excellent game as we saw two evenly matched team’s goalies battle it out on the ice.

After a two week absence due to Covid protocol, the Colorado Avalanche resumed play, taking on VGK in a highly anticipated matchup. The Avalanche showed a bit of rust early on, taking two penalties early in the first period, the first of which came just over forty seconds into the opening frame. Reilly Smith had the best look during the Knights first powerplay getting close to the front of the net but was denied by Grubauer. Not to be upstaged, Fleury showed why he’s been so good lately by stopping two great chances in a row from Burakovsky. Fleury has been playing out of his mind recently and did not disappoint in Sunday’s matinee game.

At the 15:26 mark, Colorado took another penalty due to a high stick from Timmons, and VGK got back to work with the man advantage. Pachioretty nearly put the puck in the net just a few seconds into the powerplay but was denied by the post. Vegas came up short with the extra man again but looked dangerous throughout, a welcome change from the beginning of the season. In perhaps one of his best efforts of the night, Fleury made a fantastic poke check on Nathan Mackinnon after he weaved his way through two VGK defenders and shutdown Brandon Saad a few minutes later. The rest of the period saw no goals scored, and both teams went into the intermission looking to open up the scoring.

The second period saw more outstanding play from both goaltenders but the Knights were able to score early on to take the lead.

At the 18:22 mark, Pachioretty was finally able to break the ice and notch a goal-scoring short-side from the right circle to give VGK the lead. The Knight’s defenders also made some great plays, best exemplified by Chandler Stephenson’s great backcheck on Nathan Mackinnon around the sixteen-minute mark. Martinez took a smart penalty on Megna as he drove the puck to the net with a partial breakaway with 10:05 left in the period. While penalties aren’t always advised, Alec showed his veteran presence by preventing a grade-A chance, which would have been a very hard save for Fleury to make.

Timmons took an interference penalty with thirty seconds left on the ensuing Colorado powerplay, which gave VGK a minute and a half with the man advantage. The Knights registered two great chances from both Mark Stone and Marchessault but both were turned away due to some great saves from Grubauer. Vegas closed out the period with another would-be goal after a tic tac toe play from Stone and Stephenson, but the puck just rolled over Chandler’s stick, causing him to miss the wide-open net.

In the final period of the game, Colorado outshot the Knights but were still unable to beat Marc Andre Fleury.

Colorado’s most dangerous chance of the third came early as Fleury was forced to make a point-blank save on O’Connor at the 18:05 mark. However, the rest of the game saw Fleury hold on to his shutout performance, leading VGK to victory in their first matchup against the Avalanche. While 1-0 wins might not be the most exciting, this was one of Vegas’ best team performances this season because Colorado has so many players that are exceptional at finding the back of the net. However, I don’t expect that trend to continue as the Avs continue to shake off the rust and get a feel for the Knights over the next three games. I would not be surprised to see Tuesday’s matchup be a high scoring affair. VGK improved their record to an outstanding 10-2-1, worth 21 points in the standings with the win.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play on Tuesday night taking on the Colorado Avalanche for their second game in the four game series. The puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and will be on AT&T SportsNet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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