The Vegas Golden Knights are a story taking over the hockey world. Casual NHL fans who haven’t paid much attention in recent years have been captivated by this first-year franchise just four victories away from winning it all in its inaugural season. Meanwhile, diehards of the other 30 teams are bickering not only that a team with so few games under its belt is off to such a fantastic start but that their front offices didn’t do enough to reel in a championship this quickly, either.
The Knights extended their franchise record for the best start to a season with their seventh straight win, a 3-2 decision over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday in Las Vegas. Shea Theodore scored the game-winner with 32.5 seconds remaining, whipping a seeing-eye wrister past goaltender Carter Hart. Paul Cotter and Ivan Barbashev added the other goals for Vegas, which improved to 7-0 and became just the 16th team in NHL history to begin a season with seven wins.
Flyers fall to 3-1-1 as two-game winning streak ends.
Despite dropping a 3-2 decision against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, the Flyers showed they’re not the team to be written off. The Flyers played a challenging, physical game and had plenty of chances to take the lead in the third period. The difference was that the Golden Knights’ defense could hold up for the rest of the contest.
Carter Hart and Shea Theodore put on a show.
Shea Theodore scored a go-ahead goal for the first time in his career with less than a minute remaining in regulation. The defenseman’s seeing-eye wrister beat out a screened Carter Hart, giving the Knights a 3-2 victory over the Flyers at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday night. The goal was the second of the game for Theodore, who now has six points on the season (2G, 4A).
In the Flyers’ losing effort, goaltender Carter Hart also turned in a strong performance. He made 25 saves and stopped several breakaway opportunities in the third period alone.
The Golden Knights top line is clicking.
The top line of Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and Antoine Roussel have combined for six points in the last three games, including a hat trick against the Flyers on Tuesday. Marchessault, a former Panther who many expected to struggle this season following a 30-goal campaign in Florida, has exploded with the Knights. He is one of only five players in the league with more than three points through the first five games, and his pairing with Smith and Roussel is a significant reason why the Golden Knights are off to such a fast start.
Noah Cates’ first-period goal for the Flyers tied the score at 1-1, and he was instrumental in helping Philadelphia get back into the game in the third. Cates, along with wingers Joel Farabee and Bobby Brink and defenseman Garnet Hathaway, is the center of the team’s best lineup at even strength.
