FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Senators - Game 21 - 2022

FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Senators – Game 21 – 2022

Franchise Sports Media

Vegas Golden Knights (16-4-1)  | Ottawa Senators  (6-12-1)

Willpower from both William Carrier and William Karlsson, as they both score stunning goals to give the Golden Knights a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. 

Last night we got treated to a nice Thanksgiving appetizer when the Vegas Golden Knights returned home to The Fortress at T-Mobile Arena when they took on the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.

Vegas has been on a complete hot streak this season so far, with them in first place in the Western Conference as well as first place in the Pacific Division, as they wanted to keep it that way throughout the season.

Throughout the majority of the first period, the game was deadlocked at 0-0, with both teams getting some chances on offense. Vegas had a power play opportunity but was unsuccessful to score.

But the Golden Knights were successful in getting another power play opportunity from an interference call on Ottawa’s Artem Zub. The interference call resulted in good dividends for the Knights when Mark Stone scored from the right hash marks giving Stone his fourth consecutive game and giving the Knights the lead 1-0.

It seemed like the first period was going to end in favor of the Knights with the lead, but the Senators got on the power play from a cross-checking call on Zach Whitecloud. Unfortunately, the lead did not last long when Ottawa’s Jake Anderson scored the first goal of his season on a wrist shot, tying the game 1-1.

Both teams had good chances in the first period, but VGK later gets the upper hand later on

Just like in the first period, the second period remained tight and scoreless, but one impressive highlight came from Logan Thompson when he stopped a breakaway shot from Ottawa’s Parker Kelly, which would have been a shorthanded goal if Kelly had scored.

The period remained scoreless until William Carrier got his seventh goal of the year, giving the Golden Knights the lead 2-1 after skating past two Senator defenders, Lassi Thomson and Nick Holden. Carrier’s career high is nine goals, and by the look of things, he may surpass it later going into the season.

The Knights picked up the momentum late in the second period taking the one-goal lead into the third period. The only thing VGK needed to do was keep that same momentum.

In the third period, the Golden Knights did not leave their foot off the gas pedal when William Karlsson scored a spectacular goal after knocking down a stretch pass from Alex Pietrangelo, then spinning past Lassi Thomson, and making a backhand shot from the left face-off dot to extend the Vegas lead 3-1.

The game was pretty much in the hands of the Golden Knights towards the end of the game, but Jack Eichel wanted to give the fans more to cheer about when he scored an empty net goal to extend the lead 4-1. Eichel ended the night with two points. Throughout this season, Eichel has at least one point in 16 of Vegas’ first 21 games; the final goal from Eichel would be the final margin as the Knights would close out the game-winning 4-1.

With the win, the Golden Knights stand dominantly atop the Western Conference standings with 33 points heading into Thanksgiving, which is a big checkmark for NHL teams. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 76% of teams in playoff position going into Thanksgiving went on to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs from 2005-06 through the 2018-19 season. With the dominant run the Knights have so far, Bruce Cassidy still feels that there is still some room for improvement.

“It’s relevant. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bring it up every year,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Still think we’ve got a lot of things we’ve got to do better. But again tonight, one of the things we’ve done well is finding ways to win.”

The Golden Knights’ 3-game home stand at The Fortress continues when they play against the Seattle Kraken at T-Mobile Arena on Friday. They are scheduled to drop the puck at 5:00 pm. The game can be seen on  AT&T Sports Net (channel 313 on Cox Cable) or heard on 98.9 FM, FOX Sports Las Vegas 1340 AM.