The Golden Knights scored four goals in the first period, three inside of a 91-second span, and continued sticking it to the San Jose Sharks for a majority of the 60 minutes of Game 1 resulting in a dominant 7-0 win.
We can’t play a better game than we played last night. We played a terrific game. -Gerard Gallant
It’s hard to disagree with the Jack Adams finalist. Pretty much every facet of the game outside of taking penalties (which they killed every one) the Golden Knights were great. It looked as if one team was playing at a different speed as the other, which is a great sign for the Golden Knights as the series progresses. However, the same lackluster start for the Sharks is not to be expected in Game 2, or at least so say the Golden Knights.
Definitely tomorrow they are going to come out strong and we are going to see the real San Jose Sharks, and we’ve got to be ready for that. -Jonathan Marchessault
I expect a lot more push from the beginning. I think we caught them a little off guard with our speed. -Nate Schmidt
The question remains however, will a better Sharks performance even be enough?
Vegas looked the far superior team any way you slice it, and as it turns out, that’s been the case all season long. As I’ve said on the SinBin.vegas Podcast a countless number of times, when the Golden Knights are playing well, no one can touch them.
We just try and play our game, we can’t worry about what the other team’s going to bring. Most nights when we play our game as good as we play, it’s good enough. -Gallant
The key for Gallant and the boys is to continue finding ways to keep it up. The Sharks will likely be without one of their best scoring forwards due to suspension, they’ll still be without Joe Thornton again, and Joonas Donskoi’s availability is in question as well. But, this is a team that is coming off a 7-0 drubbing and knows another loss could be deadly to their season.
Everyone, including myself, seems to believe the Sharks will bring their absolute best to T-Mobile Arena tomorrow night. Will it be enough? I say no, and I have a feeling the Golden Knights players, coaches, and management agree, despite the fact that they’ll never say it.
Richard Evans
Not sure about one thing. Thornton is supposedly close, and if Kane is suspended, we could see the big guy in.
But generally I agree. Despite so many pundits who keep talking about how close these teams are – the Vegas style of play seems to match up well with the Sharks. Just looking at the regular season, the Sharks tended to fade in the 3rd Period against the Knights.
Bad news if they let the Knights get out to a fast start like Game 1. But even more tough even if they start more even. The one win they got was when Vegas had a host of injuries. Now the Knights are healthy and rested. Bad news for the rest of the league.
Jeff
The coach has already ruled Thornton out, and with his health issues it bears to question how effective , if at all, that powerful scorer will really be… He will not be nearly fast enough and then there is also the concern of re-injury I am sure will be in the back of his mind with checks, etc…. When he does re-enter the series, if they insert him into a top -end line it would be a mistake in my mind.
Jonathan
Are we talking about the 96-year-old dude they’re waiting to return from injury, who by Sharks fans’ own admission is extremely slow and unlikely to help against our style of team? Please, yes, bring him back, I’d love to see that! LOL. I thought Game 1 was bad, if he comes in, it could get worse. The SinBin podcast (I’m loving the podcasts, they are long, but they make me laugh and they’re really insightful, I’ve learned a lot just listening) absolutely nailed it on Burns. It wasn’t just a fluke that he lazily let Karlsson take away the puck short-handed for goal of the year, the guys is a complete liability on defense. I had heard people say he is “one of the best” defenders in the NHL? These are … hockey experts? I’m starting to laugh at the phrase “hockey expert,” since I am fairly new to hockey and went 8 for 8 predicting the first round of the playoffs, and most of the ESPN analysts were pretty bad at it by comparison. Watch Burns play defense, he has almost no situational awareness, seems only vaguely aware he’s even on the ice, and he certainly isn’t interested in the job. He can’t pass effectively, he turns the puck over constantly, he’s an awful defenseman. He is a great forward, I am just not sure why he’s listed on defense?! If you know a guy is that bad, why don’t they pair him with someone who can help, and then put him with a forward line that has some great two-way defensive players? Or do they already do that and it’s still not enough? I’m so confused about that guy, to me it would be like putting Damian Lillard of the Blazers at center in basketball. Yeah, he’s a really good basketball player, but he’s 6 feet tall, he’s not a center. Burns isn’t defense lol.
RICHARD EVANS
Burns is considered a great defender because he
1) has a great shot from the point
2) strong assist man
3) good on the boards
His biggest weakness is transition defense, which is a BIG problem against a fast team because his importance on the offensive side sucks him further in closer to the other teams goal than comfortable. Because the Knights are arguably the fastest and most relentless team on the counterattack they can make Burns look silly.
Adrian
Poor Jonathan is probably crying.
Mzmayh3m
Sharks….we.are.coming.for.you