Highlights & Analysis: Golden Knights Shutout Lifeless Penguins

Two days ago, the Vegas Golden Knights (38-18-6) trounced the Toronto Maple Leafs. They were defensively sound and capitalized on their chances. On Friday, the Golden Knights enjoyed a repeat performance and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins (24-31-10) 4-0.

At the start of the first period, it looked like the Penguins had the Golden Knights on their heels. That changed less than a minute in when Evgeni Malkin took an egregious tripping penalty against Ivan Barbashev. The Golden Knights didn’t score on the ensuing power play, but they almost did. Reilly Smith backhanded a shot that went just wide of the net— a foot to the right, and it would’ve been a storybook start to the game. 

Ilya Samsonov was caught out of position just four minutes into the game. The Penguins peppered Samsonov with a flurry of shots; he made the saves, albeit unconventionally. 

The Golden Knights didn’t officially register a shot on goal until 7:35 into the first period, but they scored on their second. Jack Eichel won the faceoff back to Noah Hanifin, who fired a shot on net that Alex Nedeljkovic kicked out. Mark Stone backhanded a pass to Tanner Pearson, who was all alone in the shot. Pearson had a yawning cage to shoot into, and he didn’t miss. 

Just over four minutes into the second period, Alex Nedeljkovic left the net to play the puck and turned it over to Mark Stone. He recovered, but the Penguins didn’t escape unscathed. Ten seconds later, Stone corralled the puck at center ice and fed Ivan Barbashev. Barbashev entered the zone, skated unimpeded to the left dot, and wristed a shot that beat Nedeljkovic far side. 

The Golden Knights outshot the Penguins 12-4 in the third period. They scored on their first two shots to put the game out of reach. 

The Golden Knights took advantage of a bad Penguins line change two minutes into the third period. Brayden McNabb collected the puck and sent a bank pass to Tomáš Hertl, who one-touched the puck to Brandon Saad. Completely unmarked, Saad entered the zone with speed and rifled a shot from the right dot through Ryan Shea that beat Nedeljkovic far side.

The Golden Knights struck again 54 seconds later. Mark Stone sprung Jack Eichel, who skated through the neutral zone with the puck and gained the blue line. Eichel left the puck for Tanner Pearson, and Pearson threaded a pass to Stone. Stone danced around Vladislav Kolyachonok and beat Nedeljkovic like a rented mule.

And that was it. There was no push, no fire, no fight from the Penguins. The Golden Knights won their fourth game in a row, and Samsonov remained unbeaten.

Game Notes

Bruce Cassidy sent Jack Eichel’s line out to take the opening face off. But instead of Tanner Pearson, Reilly Smith was on Eichel’s left. All night, the crowd roared when Smith touched the puck. He’s happy to be back, and the fans are happy to have him. 

Speaking of: Reilly Smith became the first player to be traded back to the Golden Knights. He skated in his 899th career regular season game on Friday. It was his 400th as a member of the Golden Knights; he became the fifth player in franchise history to achieve that feat.

The Penguins didn’t make his job particularly hard, but Ilya Samsonov was stellar. He made 22 saves and recorded his second shutout of the season.

Many moons ago, in 2017, Mark Stone and Erik Karlsson led the Ottawa Senators to game seven of the Eastern Conference Final against the Penguins. Erik Karlsson was the better player in the series; on Friday, Mark Stone got the best of him– although Karlsson was arguably the Penguins’ best player.

Mark Stone was the best player on Friday. His vision, passing, and, of course, that skillful goal were all on full display. Defensively, he gave the Penguins nothing. Offensively, he enjoyed a three-point night– his sixth of the season. 

Nedeljkovic allowed four goals but finished the game with 0.03 goals saved above expected. He kept the Penguins in the game in the second period. But while the Penguins’ defense crumbled, the Golden Knights’ was suffocating. The Penguins aren’t very good; they might have a shot to win the draft lottery. But the Golden Knights were impeccable on Friday. 

Noah Hanifin didn’t record a point, snapping his streak at four games. But he was very, very good. He’s back to the player he was at the beginning of the season. The Golden Knights will be tough out this postseason with this version of Hanifin, Reilly Smith, and a healthy William Karlsson and Shea Theodore.

Three stars of the game: Ilya Samsonov, Mark Stone, Tanner Pearson