Golden Knights’ Style The Impetus To Opposition Frustration

Image from NHL on ESPN Broadcast

It’s not uncommon in the game of hockey to see someone lose their cool. It is however quite rare is to see an entire NHL team and the 18,532 people in the arena cheering for them do it all at the same time.

It started less than two minutes into the game after the Golden Knights took a quick 1-0 lead when Stars captain Jamie Benn viciously crosschecked Mark Stone in the face while he was laying on the ice. As a captain often does, Benn set the tone for what was to come with his team and his fan base for the rest of the night.

Three more Vegas goals, and about 90 minutes later, while Max Domi was being called for as blatant a boarding penalty as you’ll ever see, Stars fans began showering the ice with beers, rally towels, and whatever else they could find to hurl over the boards. It got so bad the 2nd period couldn’t even be completed as the officials sent both teams to the locker room with 21 seconds left on the clock as the ice crew cleaned up the debris.

Everyone in the building was frustrated tonight. -Pete DeBoer

Adin Hill’s popcorn shower is the visual confirmation DeBoer hit the nail on the head.

On the other side, there were the Golden Knights, who just kept playing their brand of hockey.

Games have gotten like that and we’re right there with each other. I’ve never seen it phase us really. -Nic Hague

Yes, many games this postseason “have gotten like that” and no longer can it just be chalked up to the competitiveness of playoff hockey, instead, tonight, we learned the real catalyst of the frustration experienced by the Stars, Oilers, and the Jets before them. That catalyst is the Golden Knights themselves.

They bring this side out of teams. Not because they are cocky or loud or try to rile the other team up (to be fair, they do indeed do some of this, but not any more than any other team) but instead because of the way they have chosen to play the game.

We’re making it hard for them to get inside and we’re making them work for their chances. We’re playing with good discipline, staying out of the box for the most part. We’re not giving up the odd-man rush by not turning it over and giving them numbers. We’re forcing their D to work through some checks or angles to join the rush so that part of the game we’re trying to neutralize as much as possible. -Bruce Cassidy

Vegas plays a style that is inherently built to annoy their opponent.

Collectively as a group we’re clogging up the middle of the ice and we’re frustrating teams. When you have a buy in up and down the lineup like that it’s frustrating to play against. -Alex Pietrangelo

Really, all the Golden Knights are trying to do is keep the other team from scoring, but when it works it becomes annoying, then frustrating, and ultimately maddening.

For three straight series we’ve been frustrating their top players, skill players. -Pietrangelo

And as we’ve now learned for those three straight series, after frustration comes anger, and eventually, collapse (and popcorn).

Vegas’ style is built to make life difficult, and as they’ve succeeded more and more, deeper and deeper into the playoffs, the reactions have only gotten bigger and badder.

In Game 3, the Stars broke. They lost their will to try and win the game, and it happened because the Golden Knights took it from them.