Golden Knights Takeaways: Hutton, Brossoit Take Advantage of Opportunities

The Vegas Golden Knights spoiled Marc-Andre Fleury's second return to T-Mobile Arena, defeating him and the Minnesota Wild 4-1 to snap a two-game losing streak. The VGK will play the Wild yet again on Monday to conclude the second half of a back-to-back series. 

Here are three of our takeaways from the game.

Golden Knights Takeaways

Unlikely Candidates

The Golden Knights got scoring from three unlikely players Saturday night Ben Hutton, Zach Whitecloud, and Brett Howden. All three players have missed significant amounts of time this season with injuries or being scratched. Together, they combined for ten goals before this game.

After two games where they struggled to put pucks on the net, the VGK got goals from all three of Hutton, Howden, and Whitecloud.

"I was trying to just stay positive and patient for as long as I could. Obviously, I got the opportunity a few games back and I am just trying to make the most of it," said defensemen Ben Hutton. 

Hutton, in particular, scored his second consecutive goal against Marc-Andre Fleury at T-Mobile Arena as he scored in Fleury's first reunion game. After bouncing in and out of the lineup all this season, he proved to still be ready with his goal Saturday night.

"You root for guys like that. He's a popular guy in the room… I think he sees an opportunity as long as Theo (Shea Theodore) is out… he wants to get in there no matter what side he has to play. That's what you want is for guys who want to stay in and do whatever it takes to stay," said head coach Bruce Cassidy

Bolstered Brossoit

The Golden Knights goaltending carousel continues to spin with the schedule providing Bruce Cassidy and co. to look at both of their goalies against the same team. Jonathan Quick and Laurent Brossoit split the series against the Edmonton Oilers and are on track to do the same against the Wild.

Brossoit is making his case to be the starter for the meantime for the VGK, as he was excellent for the Knights in their win. He played calm and collected, stopping 29 of 30 shots against the Wild, with the only goal he gave up being a wacky bounce. 

"It was a little more like before he was hurt, right? I think it's safe to say he was in control and finding pucks. Rebounds were not in harm's way, and anything that he couldn't control. There were no unforced errors. For a goaltender, that's what it looked like to me," said Cassidy.

West Watch

The Wild could have clinched a playoff spot with a win over the Golden Knights but didn't. The Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars also missed out on their chances of clinching as they both lost Saturday night as well. However, the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Anaheim Ducks and punched their ticket.

The Oilers trail the VGK by two points, and the Kings are three points behind Vegas. Still, if the Stanley Cup Playoffs started today, the Golden Knights would play the Winnipeg Jets as they have not been passed by either the Oilers, Kings, or Wild for the top spot in the Western Conference.