Chris O'Meara / AP
Golden Knights center Cody Eakin (21) celebrates with the bench after his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Tampa, Fla.
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019 | 8:01 p.m.
Vegas Golden Podcast
Top 10 most important Golden Knights going forward
Justin Emerson and Case Keefer cap the All-Star break by presenting their individual lists of the the top 10 Golden Knights that will determine the fate of the season. Well, at least one of them actually got to a top 10. Listen to find out who inadvertently capped their list at nine players, and take in arguments on the second-half outlook for Alex Tuch and which player deserves to be at the top of the list.
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Down 2-0 on the road to the league’s best team, the Golden Knights could have folded.
Instead, Cody Eakin scored a breakaway goal, Valentin Zykov scored his first of the season and Alex Tuch netted the only goal in the shootout as Vegas claimed a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at Amalie Arena.
The win snapped a franchise-worst four-game losing streak. It was the Golden Knights’ second shootout victory, beating Minnesota on Oct. 6. They lost to Vancouver on Oct. 24.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Strong even-strength play powers Knights
The Lightning jumped out to an early lead with a power-play goal and looked like the better team for most of the game, but when there were five men on each side of the ice, the Golden Knights were in charge.
Vegas held a 45-35 edge in shot attempts in 44:52 of 5-on-5 time, a 56.3 percent Corsi advantage. Through regulation, shots were 31-26 in shots on goal for Vegas, but 27-17 at 5-on-5. Overtime was even more lopsided for Vegas, with all six shots on goal coming off Golden Knights’ sticks.
“We worked really hard, played good defensively and didn’t give them many opportunities,” Tuch said to AT&T SportsNet. “Coming away with a win, two points is big.”
Penalties from unlikely sources
The Golden Knights took three penalties in the first period, and they came from some of the least likely sources.
Nate Schmidt had not taken a penalty all season, and his cross-check led to the Brayden Point goal. William Karlsson took a tripping call, just his sixth penalty of the season, and Reilly Smith’s hook was his fourth penalty of the season. Only Ryan Carpenter, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Tuch have played regularly with fewer penalties than Smith.
Schmidt, Karlsson and Smith combined for just 52 penalty minutes in 225 games last season, and only. For comparison, Ryan Reaves has 58 penalty minutes in 53 games this year. Jon Merrill (39 PIM) and Cody Eakin (14) also went to the box.
The Golden Knights held the Lightning to 1-for-5 on the power play, below their season average of 29.4 entering the game, best in the league.
“We were in a little trouble there with the power play. They move the puck so good,” coach Gerard Gallant told AT&T SportsNet. “They got one early then killed the rest off, so we did a great job.”
Ryan Carpenter leaves game early
Carpenter took a nasty hit from Cedric Pacquette at 17:42 of the second period and he needed to be helped off the ice. He appeared woozy, trying to skate off the ice on his own but nearly falling backwards. He did not return to the game.
He appeared to have concussion symptoms, and whether or how much time he misses remains to be seen. Carpenter has not missed time because of injury this season and has 13 points in 49 games this year.
Gallant did not give an update on his status after the game.
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