Vegas Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith (19) and Alex Tuch (89) celebrate a goal as Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom (25) reacts during the second period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Published Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020 | 10:12 p.m.
Updated Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020 | 11:51 p.m.
NBC Sports Network analyst Pierre McGuire said it best on the TV broadcast when describing the Golden Knights’ play against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
“They’re going Globetrotters on them right now 5-on-5,” he said.
The Golden Knights spent most of the night making the Canucks look like the Washington Generals, smothering them offensively and not letting much up defensively. It ended with a 5-0 drubbing in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
“Tonight I think we were just a little bit better,” Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault. “Honestly they’re a good team and we’ve got to be ready for next game.”
It’s against the code of a hockey player to publicly bash an opponent, but Marchessault is selling his team’s performance short. The Golden Knights were in full control from whistle to whistle, outshooting Vancouver 39-26 and putting together a second period that was one of Vegas’ best since the NHL restarted after pausing for the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was in that second period that McGuire dropped his Globetrotters line, during a 71-second shift from the line of Marchessault, Paul Stastny and Reilly Smith, with Brayden McNabb and Nate Schmidt on defense. The quintet generated six shot attempts and never let off the brakes, keeping action in the Vancouver zone almost the entire time.
The Golden Knights were up 3-0 at the time, but it was clear in those 71 seconds just how outmatched the Canucks were in this game.
A 3-0 lead is safe, but crazier comebacks have happened. Moneypuck.com listed the Golden Knights with a slightly more than 92% chance to win. Then two minutes after the Globetrotters shift ended, Alex Tuch erased all doubt.
Tuch called for Nick Cousins to flip him the puck from the defensive end and he did the rest. He caught three Canucks, including Calder Trophy finalist Quinn Hughes, flat-footed and raced through the neutral zone unopposed, scoring on the breakaway for Vegas’ fourth goal.
After Tuch’s goal, Moneypuck moved the Golden Knights’ win probability to 99.98%. There was 23:26 to go, but the game was over.
“I saw the defensemen standing still and it was a perfect flip,” Tuch said. “I just tried to get past them and it bounced perfectly in the middle. It was a great play by (Cousins).”
Tuch finished with two points on the night, as did Smith, Shea Theodore and Mark Stone.
It’s a testament to the night the Golden Knights had that Robin Lehner’s first career playoff shutout under the most bizarre of circumstances was not the main story. Allan Walsh, the agent for backup Marc-Andre Fleury, posted to Twitter a photo of Fleury in goal with a sword bearing coach Peter DeBoer’s name through Fleury’s back.
Lehner said the since-deleted post it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“When this happened and I saw Marc, we were just laughing,” Lehner said. “At the end of the day he didn’t do anything. It was his agent, and if he wants to be unprofessional, go ahead.”
DeBoer said he’s confident the issue is resolved and that he’s not worried about any sort of distractions moving forward.
“That’s outside noise that’s really not going to play any part in what we’re doing here,” DeBoer said. “We’re not going to deal with it or spend any time on it. We’re here for one thing and that’s too pursue a Stanley Cup and there’s not a doubt in my mind that every guy in that room is fully invested in that.”
If Walsh’s tweet that dominated the news over the weekend was any distraction to the Golden Knights, they didn’t show it. They led 1-0 after the first period, then cranked up the intensity in the second for three more goals. Max Pacioretty added a fifth goal for good measure, the most Vegas has scored in a game since the round-robin.
The Golden Knights established themselves as the heavy favorite that they are, and doing so with an exclamation point. For as much as the Golden Knights controlled pace against the Blackhawks in the first round, they never put together a beatdown quite like they did on the Canucks in Game 1.
Players and DeBoer had a hard time finding things to improving on, settling on the faceoff circle, where Vegas won just 37% of the draws.
If faceoffs are the worst part of the game, that’s a good thing for the Golden Knights. They’re up 1-0 in a series after perhaps the most complete game they have played since arriving in the Edmonton bubble.
“We made it tough on their defense tonight, and that’s what we’re going to have to do throughout the majority of this series,” Stone said. “They weren’t very good tonight, so we know that they’re going to have to bring their best.”
Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at
