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Neal keeps Golden Knights perfect; Why hot start might continue

You’d think, in facing two vastly improved Western Conference teams on the road in back-to-back nights, that the Vegas Golden Knights would have stopped being cute or scrappy and start losing.

Nope.

On Friday, the Golden Knights went into a third period down one goal, only to fight back with James Neal scoring the game-winner, propelling Vegas to a 2-1 win against the Dallas Stars.

On Saturday, the Golden Knights (cough) went into the third period down one goal. They ended up forcing overtime against the Arizona Coyotes, only for James Neal to score another game-winner, this time in OT.

Check out Neal’s latest game-winner in the video above this post’s headline. Meanwhile, find his first (and the Golden Knights franchise’s first) game-winner from Friday below:

Neal, 30, currently owns three of the Golden Knights’ four goals. He scored both of their game-winners. Meanwhile, his former team in the Nashville Predators also have three goals in two games, and zero wins.

It seemed like Neal once again got a raw deal in joining a seemingly bad team, and doing so in a contract year as a power forward approaching a next contract that can vary wildly based on how 2017-18 goes.

At this rate, Golden Knights fans won’t let him fold and leave the table.

Before you dismiss this start

Look, the Golden Knights needed narrow wins and Neal’s heroics. They also needed great work from a keyed-in Marc-Andre Fleury.

Still, if you’ve seen PHT’s October schedule analysis posts, you’ll know that the table is set for the Golden Knights to possibly start strong. If home-ice advantage is any kind of edge, maybe the good times will continue, even if this winning streak would be unlikely to go too long?

Check out this upcoming stretch, all home games:

Tue, Oct 10 vs Arizona
Fri, Oct 13 vs Detroit
Sun, Oct 15 vs Boston
Tue, Oct 17 vs Buffalo
Sat, Oct 21 vs St. Louis
Tue, Oct 24 vs Chicago
Fri, Oct 27 vs Colorado

Nice. With two narrow wins, it’s silly to get carried away from a bigger-picture standpoint.

On the other hand, being a fan is often about getting carried away or milking those moments where you can have fun before the cruel hammer of reality falls.

For budding Golden Knights fans, this magical run might just go a little bit longer than many would expect.