FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Ducks - Game 11

There was a lot of questions going into tonight’s game following a bit of a covid scare after Tuesday’s game.

Those questions were further emboldened as Lehner was the first goalie off the ice at today’s morning skate, typically used as an indicator for who is starting in net that night. Yet when the teams reported to the arena, Robin Lehner was nowhere to be found. It was later announced that Oscar Dansk had been placed in the lineup as the backup goaltender. This led to Marc Andre Fleury starting his second game in a row for the first time since last year.

In another surprising development, the Knights came out sporting some shiny gold helmets for the first time. Hey, maybe management read my last game recap and decided to try out the metallic look that the Henderson Silver Knights use as part of their helmet combination.

The Ducks seemed to build off the momentum they built in the third period of Tuesday’s game as they looked much more composed and dangerous tonight. At the ten-minute mark, Anaheim lead in scoring chances 3-1, which set the narrative for the rest of the game. VGK was awarded a powerplay at the 2:58 mark but only registered one truly dangerous shot on net. Marchessault was the player to do so as he had a great chance from a backhand shot, but John Gibson was able to fight it off. The period ended with the shot total at 13-4 in favor of the ducks.

The Ducks came into the game with the third ranked penalty kill, and they lived up to the stat early on in the second period.

At the 16:17 mark, Derek Grant took a holding penalty and sent the Vegas Golden Knights to the powerplay for the second time of the night. Anaheim rendered the Knights ineffective with the extra man except for a dangerous-looking one-timer from Johnathan Marchessault, which failed to cross the goal line. Shortly before the powerplay expired, Marchessault took a holding penalty and let his frustration boil over by wacking the puck down the ice, earning him a 10-minute misconduct, keeping him off the ice for twelve minutes overall negating his team’s powerplay. Yet VGK remained vigilant and did not allow a shot on net while shorthanded.

While the offense did not look great tonight, Fleury definitely looked up to par, keeping his team in the game with a handful of impressive saves. A great example of his effort on the ice tonight was his save on Lundestrome that came at the ten-minute mark and saw him sprawling on his back and miraculously keeping the puck out of the net with his glove hand. Nic Hague nearly took the lead for Vegas hitting the post with a little under nine minutes left in the second frame. The second period was much more even in terms of the shot total, with the Ducks registering 8 shots to the Knight’s 7.

Tonight’s game marked the third time this season where the Knight’s have entered the third period without a goal.

Even without scoring, VGK still had some decent looks on the night. One example being a Cody Glass chance that came early in the third, but unfortunately, he was unable to convert. Anaheim had some bad luck of their own as Getzlaf had a great breakaway chance at the 13:20 mark, but the puck rolled off his stick at a decisive moment, allowing Fleury to make another save. The Ducks were eventually able to break through with a goal by Max Comtois with 7:42 remaining. Comtois has scored four of his six goals this season against the Knights and seems to have the hot hand when playing against Vegas. VGK was unable to recreate the late-game magic from game 2 and eventually fell to the Ducks 1-0, their first time being shutout this season. VGK is now 8-2-1 on the season and still in first place in the Honda West Division.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play on Saturday afternoon taking on the San Jose Sharks for their first game back at SAP Center this season. The puck drop is set for 1 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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