Golden Knights send a message with win over defending champs

By Jesse Granger

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017 | 11:30 p.m.

When the final buzzer sounded Sidney Crosby drifted to his bench, out of breath with his hands on his knees.

The two-time league’s most valuable player, widely regarded as the best hockey player in the world, was held without a single shot on goal and his defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins lost to the NHL’s newest team — the Golden Knights.

Vegas’ 2-1 win over over Pittsburgh Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena was a big game for goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who saved 25-of-26 shots he faced against the team he played for the first 13 years of his career.

It was a big game for James Neal, who scored the first goal only 1:41 into the contest, also against his former team.

But, most important, it was a big win for the Vegas Golden Knights, who earned their most impressive win to date, improving on a resume that continues to build.

“(Our players) want respect and that’s how you get respect, by beating good hockey teams,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “It wasn’t like we got lucky and beat them. We played a good hockey game, and they’re a good hockey team.”

Thursday night’s win over the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champions sends the message loud and clear to the rest of the NHL that the Golden Knights are for real.

Vegas held the Penguins to only 26 shots on goal and blanketed their third-ranked power play, holding them scoreless in three attempts.

While Pittsburgh’s stars were held scoreless, the Golden Knights got the game-winning goal from the most unlikely of sources.

Jon Merrill, who entered the game with only six career goals in 216 NHL games, ripped a slapshot past Penguins goalie Matt Murray in the third period to break the 1-1 tie.

“It was just pure joy,” Merrill said. “I was so pumped to contribute and be out there with the guys. It was a huge win for our guys.”

Merrill has only played in five games this season for the Golden Knights, spending most games in the press box as a healthy scratch.

“It was awesome,” Gallant said. “Our bench was real happy for Jon. He’s been a good soldier for us and he hasn’t played a lot of games, but he played an outstanding game.”

Of Merrill’s seven career goals, four of them have been game winners.

“When we play the way we played tonight, it’s the perfect game for us and we have to keep doing that,” Gallant said. “Tonight was one of our best, most complete games of the year.”

It’s easy to say the Golden Knights’ Cinderella run will soon come to an end, that the group of mid-level players will come crashing back down to earth eventually. But with every challenge the team faces, it passes with flying colors.

“To be honest I don’t think we consider ourselves an expansion team,” Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. “Right from the start we knew we were going to have a team that can compete. The league is getting tighter and tighter.”

“The fun thing about the expansion team is everybody has to bring their A-game,” Bellemare said. “If there is someone that doesn’t do something the right way, you can let him know right away. We are more accountable, all of us.”

The Golden Knights didn’t sneak past the Penguins, or get outplayed with the goalie bailing them out. They played right there with arguably the most talented team in the league and outlasted them.

“I think from the drop of the puck until the end of the game it was a pretty even game,” Gallant said. “Both teams played well. We talk about playing fast hockey and that’s one of the fastest teams in the league. We executed our game plan. That’s the way we want to play every night.”

The Golden Knights are now 20-9-2 on the season with 42 points — one game behind the Pacific Division-leading Kings but with one fewer game played.

Vegas is 12-2-1 at home, 16-4-0 against the Western Conference and 9-1-0 against divisional opponents.

Their resume of impressive wins includes victories over Anaheim, Nashville, Ottawa and now Pittsburgh — all of which were in last year’s conference finals matchups.

It’s time to start taking the Golden Knights seriously.

“We’ve done it with a lot of goaltending injuries and now all of a sudden we have the two goalies that we planned on having all year long and they’re playing well,” Gallant said. “I think we’re a confident team.”