Recap: The Golden Knights wrapped up the preseason with a home exhibition finale against the San Jose Sharks. With :40 left in the opening frame, the Sharks opened up the scoring and took a 1-0 edge into the first intermission.
Macklin Celebrini gave San Jose a 2-0 advantage early in the middle period, but Tomas Hertl cut the lead in half with a power play goal.
Depth center Nic Dowd tied the game quickly into the final twenty minutes. The Sharks regained their lead midway through the final frame to push ahead 3-2. San Jose added another late in the game to take a two-goal edge.
Vegas ends the preseason with a record of 4-0-0, 3-1-0, 3-0-1… The Golden Knights will open up their regular season at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. Puck drop is scheduled for 730PM PT.
Recap: (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: Tough game for Carter Hart in net tonight, but he did pick up an assist. Thankfully, the preseason is over. Real hockey begins Tuesday night. (Analysis by Jason)
Jason’s Three VGK Stars
*** Carter Hart (For His Assist Only)
** Tomas Hertl
* Top 6 Forwards (16 SOG)
HSK
Hellebuyck or bust.
the Vgk have a major goaltending problem. Hart is an average goalie who is smallish, does not have the big body to play a Walrus style, and gets beaten on high shots over the shoulders as he goes down too early before the shot is released.
and Hill is a disaster in net who has no lateral mobility, poor rebound control, and also whiffs on shots glove high while flailing his arm at the puck because he cannot get his body in front of the puck. he also is susceptible to screens despite his size, because he goes down too early and is unable to move over or see over the screen, and he makes it easy for the screener because of his lack of mobility.
Abdullah
No argument here.
Henderson One
McCrimmon seems to have a real blind spot when it comes to goalies with the exception of the selection of Fleury. and but I don’t think he was in his current position when that occurred. He sure did mess up the end of Fleury here.
larry
I disagree on the Hellebuyck comment simply on the assets we might have to surrender, of course if Hill was among those ‘assets’ i might be more interested.
‘the Vgk have a major goaltending problem’….on this I can sadly agree totally. Yes it was pre-season and all, but the goals let in by both netminders should basically be cans of corn, and they need to do waaaaaay better, could we be seeing Lindbom sooner than later??
TS
HSK, agreed on( (Over The ) Hill.
But i’ll add that, like MAF, Hart isn’t a big man, but he has similar athletic skills and agility. The BIG men may fill the net, but are slower. We’ve hired( been stuck with) not one, but two walruses, i say we try the other way for awhile!
.
HSK
that game vs SJ was a good example for 2 reasons on the same subject.
the goals over the shoulder on Hart were a reminder of his weak spot, and he needs to stay on his feet and CHALLENGE the shooter. that means come out and cut down the angles, and not try to play like a walrus on his knees deep on the goal line. —– attention Sean Burke
and on the other end, it was the Vgk bad habit of shooting low on good scoring chances that helped the SJ goalie. The Vgk shooters need to learn from that game that you gotta go upstairs to score in the NHL.
Abdullah
No argument here.
Abdullah
No argument here.
Cliff Falla
Believe it or not…. I agree with Abdullah !
Knights fan in minny
macklin With a laser goal The Sharks have some very good young forwards they will be reckoned to deal with down the road their goaltender isn’t too bad either
Henderson One
Theodore did not have great night either. The final two goals happened right in front of him.
A Fan
Exactly. And TV commentator Jeff Sharples who I normally like a lot had nothing to say but praise for how Theodore played. No mention of this at all.
Vic
Important for the VGK to get through preseason without injuries. That said, the Sharks may wind up ahead of the VGK in the standings this year as their arrow is pointing upwards. They have the best young superstar in the league, a stable of young guys ready to blossom, some veteran stability, better defense and improving young goaltenders.
vgk21
Vegas Golden Knights—-last season in terms of shot and chance suppression, they were among the class of the entire league.
The Knights allowed 2.27 expected goals per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, FEWER THAN ANYBODY ELSE, and they ranked second in shots against. If not for their 31st-ranked 5-on-5 save percentage, they’d have prevented a lot more goals and won a lot more games. Unsurprisingly, after their save percentage finally started to improve in the playoffs, they went on an incredible run to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.
and last night was just another example of both the stats test and the eye test showing once again the Vgk problem in goal.
Rrale
Until the GM sees the same issue in goal most fans see things will not change. He believes he has two good/elite goalies. Now the rest of the NHL knows how to beat our two starting goalies, shoot at the top portion of the net. Or in Hill’s case just shoot it as he will miss at least one or two.
I also believe Hellebuyck is not the answer for VGK.
A Fan
I think GM would move Hill in a heartbeat if it was possible to do it. I doubt Hill is in demand with any other GM’s especially with his contract. If Hill could be part of a trade to Winnipeg, I’m sure it would have happened by now. Hopefully Hart will turn out not to be a bust. He needs to be given a chance…time will tell.
postmortem
meanwhile, some guy named Logan Thompson finished 4th in the Vezina trophy voting for best goalie in each of the past 2 seasons.
if only the Vgk had a goalie like him…….
oh wait !
JB
Settle down! Exibition games mean little.
Hdbiker7851
They may mean nothing- but unfortunately they have pointed out what every fan knows the goalie situation is a total disaster. McCrimmon will never accept responsibility for this as in his mind he can do doing wrong.
Abdullah
Something I want to say ladies and gentlemen.
Macklin Celebrini’s blistering goal underscored a larger truth: the San Jose Sharks possess a talented core of young forwards who will force opponents to take notice for years to come. Their goaltending, meanwhile, is far from a liability.
We still are better for now. Especially the defense.
Bruce
Good assessment Abdullah.
Adolf
Ich werde die Kritik an Carter Hart nicht dulden. Er war in den Playoffs großartig.
Heil Carter Hart
Frank
Goaltending is the primary reason why we fell behind so many times last year – and had more than our fair share of OTL’s….. Would hate to see that happen again…. on the other hand, we are rolling out the same goaltending tandem. Hart has a little bit of a longer leash than Hill. But neither have looked incredibly sharp in the preseason.