Golden Knights enjoying ride to Stanley Cup Final, but remain unsatisfied

By Sean LeahyMay 20, 2018, 7:29 PM EDT

When the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Eastern Conference Final in 2008, captain Sidney Crosby and his teammates decided to stick to superstition and not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy. It didn’t work as they fell to the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. A year later, as well as in 2016 and 2017, they put their mitts all over it and success followed in those Cup Finals.

So after the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 to claim the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl in their first year of existence, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was a part of those Penguins teams, told de-facto captain Deryk Engelland to pick up the trophy.

This entire Golden Knights season has been unbelievable, so might as well tell superstition to be damned, right?

***

The ride continues for the “Vegas Golden Misfits,” as they so affectionately have dubbed themselves. It’s May 20, 2018 and an expansion franchise will be competing for the Stanley Cup within the week. No one saw this coming. Not after the expansion draft last June. Not after the team finally started playing together during training camp. Not even after their hot start in October.

When did the Golden Knights starts believing this year could be something special?

“I think once we hit Christmas we had the belief in the room,” Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt told NBCSN afterward. “We knew we had the guys, it was whether or not we could continue to do it. We believed that we could do that. We believed in that room, all the guys it took, and however many lineup changes, that we had the guys in there that could pull something like this off.”

[Golden Knights’ incredible run continues to Stanley Cup Final]

Head coach Gerard Gallant started to believe during a back-to-back road trip to Nashville and Dallas in early December.

A 2-0 lead against the Predators on Dec. 8 evaporated with Nashville firing off three straight and taking the lead with 5:04 to play. Doubting Vegas would be a mistake all season, which explains Erik Haula tying the game with 40 seconds to play and Reilly Smith winning it in the sixth round of the shootout. The following night was another tough win, with the Stars keeping things tight until the very end and the Golden Knights coming out on top 5-3.

“We come out of those games, we outplayed both of those teams, played great hockey,” Gallant said. “That’s when I said to myself, this is a special team, the character on this team, they believe they can beat anybody. Going into those two buildings at that time was a big, big boost for us. It was a confidence builder for me, too.”

Those two victories were part of an 11-1-1 month to close out 2017 as the questioned about the Golden Knights’ legitimacy began to disappear.

***

“There’s no partying with me,” Gallant said after Game 5 when asked if he’s going to celebrate this accomplishment.

The quest isn’t over. The Vegas Golden Knights have evolved from bunch of expansion “misfits” to a nice story to a playoff team to a legit Stanley Cup contender over the course of six months. No one saw this coming, but the players inside the dressing room developed a belief over that period of time and that belief has manifested in reality.

Vegas will now have a few days off as they await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals. After 82 regular season games and 15 playoff games, it’s time for some rest as the mission is far from accomplished.

“It’s been an awesome ride so far. We’ve won three series. We’re going to the Stanley Cup Final, but this isn’t what we want,” Gallant said. “We want to win.”

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub

————

Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Swiss stun Canada, Sweden crushes U.S. in ice hockey semis

Getty

Associated PressMay 19, 2018, 1:27 PM EDT

4 Comments

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Switzerland stunned title favorite Canada 3-2 to reach only its third final of the world ice hockey championship on Saturday.

The Swiss will play the gold medal game on Sunday against defending champion Sweden, which strode into the final by crushing the United States 6-0.

Canada and the U.S. will play for bronze.

”We obviously got motivated a lot playing them,” Switzerland defenseman Mirco Muller said. ”They’re the best country in the world, hockey-wise, and they have a great team here. It was a great battle for us.”

Canada goaltender Darcy Kuemper made some fine saves in the first period before Tristan Scherwey scored the go-ahead goal for Switzerland with 1:19 remaining in the first period.

Bo Horvat tied it in the second but Switzerland proved resilient, and Gregory Hofmann restored the Swiss lead on a power play.

Gaetan Haas struck again on a power play in the third, redirecting into the net a shot by Sven Andrighetto from the point.

Colton Parayko blasted a slap shot past Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni to reduce the lead with 2:07 left in the final period as Canada pulled Kuemper for an extra attacker in vain.

”Switzerland played an unbelievable game,” Canada defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. ”From the drop of the puck they came at us hard in every facet.”

Genoni stopped 43 shots.

”It’s important that we win the last game,” Canada captain Connor McDavid said. ”We’re up to do it.”

Switzerland’s best results have been runner-up in 1935 and 2013. Sweden is going for a third world title in six years, and 11th overall.

”We’re the big underdogs (against Sweden),” Swiss forward Reto Schaeppi said. ”We have a chance if we play a really good game.”

Sweden beat Switzerland 5-3 in the preliminary round.

The Swedes set up their victory over the Americans with three goals in a 3:07 span midway through the second period.

”We didn’t play our best game but we put up a lot of goals,” forward Patric Hornqvist said. ”We still have some improvement to do for the game tomorrow.”

Viktor Arvidsson led Sweden with two goals and goalie Anders Nielsen made 41 saves for the shutout.

Trailing 1-0 in the second, the U.S. had a four-minute power play but allowed a short-handed goal by Magnus Paajarvi, who scored on a rebound after goaltender Keith Kinkaid stopped Mikael Backlund on a breakaway.

Hornqvist stretched the lead to 3-0 on a power play, and Sweden underlined its control when Mattias Janmark made it 4-0 just 11 seconds later.

Arvidsson added his second into an empty net in the final period, and Adrian Kempe finished it off with the sixth. Sweden earned its ninth win from nine games in this championship.

The U.S. pressured in the opening period, outshooting Sweden 16-8 and 41-19 overall. But it was the Swedes who went ahead. Arvidsson knocked in a loose puck in the crease following a shot from above the right circle by Filip Forsberg.

U.S. captain Patrick Kane, the overall scoring leader, failed to register a point for the first time in the championship.

”We just made too many mistakes and they capitalized,” Kane said. ”They’ve got a lot of good players over there and made us pay for those mistakes.

”It’s gonna be tough to regroup (for the bronze medal game) … but we have to do it.”

PHT Morning Skate: Jets’ secondary scoring; Preds and politics

AP Images

By Sean LeahyMay 18, 2018, 9:30 AM EDT

5 Comments

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• The Winnipeg Jets could really use some secondary scoring at the moment. [Winnipeg Free Press]

• Ryan Reaves, son of a Winnipeg sports legend, hopes to spoil the Jets’ Stanley Cup dream. [Featurd]

• Cody Eakin is stepping up his game for the Vegas Golden Knights. [Review-Journal]

• The party in Vegas during Golden Knights games isn’t just inside T-Mobile Arena. [Las Vegas Sun]

• How will the Washington Capitals go about slowing down the Tampa Bay Lightning power play? [Japers’ Rink]

• Meanwhile, the penalty kill is working for the Lightning — at least in Game 4 it did. [Tampa Bay Times]

• Humboldt bus crash survivor Kaleb Dahlgren: “I want to play hockey again” [ESPN]

• “A trademark dispute over #HumboldtStrong and other slogans related to the fatal Humboldt Broncos bus crash in April is being resolved. The team took on the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League after it applied to trademark phrases that also included ‘Healing is in the Game’ and ‘Sticks on the Porch.’” [CP via TSN]

• The NHL returning to Quebec? It doesn’t look promising. [THN]

• A good look at what a potential extension for Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins would look like. [Pensburgh]

• Why it’s the right move for Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold to limit his next general manager. [Hockey Wilderness]

• Who should the Carolina Hurricanes grab at No. 2? Filip Zadina or Andrei Svechnikov? [Elite Prospects]

• The Nashville Predators are dipping their toes into the world of politics by throwing their support behind a mayoral candidate. [Puck Daddy]

• The good and the bad of Vancouver Canucks super prospect Elias Pettersson spending one more year playing in Sweden. [Pass it to Bulis]

• A good review of an important book: “Game Change” by Ken Dryden. [Puck Junk]

• Anthony Duclair provided his mom with a very special Mother’s Day. [NBC Chicago]

• The Stanley Cup has an interesting connection to Denmark. [IIHF]

• Finally, ahead of Game 4 tonight, let’s relive the Vegas Golden Knights’ memorable pre-game intro from Wednesday night:

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub

————

Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Caps’ Backstrom a game-time decision to return from injury

Getty

Associated PressMay 17, 2018, 2:06 PM EDT

5 Comments

WASHINGTON (AP) Nicklas Backstrom could return to the Capitals’ lineup for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final against the Lightning.

Backstrom has missed Washington’s past four games with a right hand injury. Coach Barry Trotz called him a game-time decision and said early Thursday that Backstrom had not yet been medically cleared.

The 30-year-old Swedish center took part in the Capitals’ morning skate in Arlington, Virginia, mixed in on line rushes and participated in power-play drills.

Backstrom was injured May 5 when a slap shot from Pittsburgh’s Justin Schultz struck him in the right hand. If Backstrom plays, it’s possible he doesn’t take faceoffs.

Before being injured, Backstrom was one of Washington’s top players in the postseason with 13 points in 11 games.

—

Follow Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

Conn Smythe Power Rankings: Scheifele, Marchessault make their case

Getty

By Adam GretzMay 17, 2018, 1:49 PM EDT

3 Comments

The Conference Finals have reached the halfway point as we continue to inch our way to a Stanley Cup Final that will be … well … let’s just say a very unexpected matchup no matter who ends up playing in it.

The four teams remaining would all provide a fascinating story in their own right and have had some incredible individual performances that have helped drive them to this point. So let’s focus on those once again and check back in with our Conn Smythe Trophy power rankings.

The top of the list still has Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, but he is starting to get a bit of a challenge from one of his opponents in the Western Conference Final. As well as one of his teammates.

To the list!

1. Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights. He was in the top spot when looked at this more than a week and literally nothing has happened to change that. If anything, he has only strengthened his case as he now has the Golden Knights just two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final. No matter how many times you think that sentence it never stops being outrageous. Game 3 of the Western Conference Final, specifically his two acrobatic saves on Mark Scheifele in the third period, are his signature moment so far this postseason. What does it do to his legacy if he leads a first-year expansion team to a Stanley Cup Final appearance (or wins it?!) and wins the Conn Smythe Trophy along the way? Big things, obviously.

2. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets. He has already set the NHL record for most road goals in a single postseason with 11 of them. Overall, he has a league-best 14 goals … in only 15 games! Keep in mind that no player has scored more than 14 goals in a single playoff run since Sidney Crosby scored 15 for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-09. Before him you have to go all the way back to Joe Sakic (18) in 1995-96. It seems like he is a guarantee for two points every single night.

3. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals. We had Ovechkin in the second spot in our last update and his drop isn’t at all a reflection on the way he has played — he has been consistently incredible. It is just that there are simply two players that, at this point, are just a little bit better. In all honestly pretty much any of the players in the top-three (Fleury, Scheifele, Ovechkin) could easily be in the top spot without much of an argument.

4. Jon Marchessault, Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas’ top line has been a nightmare for teams all year and Marchessault has been at the center of a lot of it. He is also proving that his 30-goal season a year ago with the Florida Panthers was not a fluke. He is now up to 17 points in 13 games this postseason and has at least two points in six of his past nine games. How did the Florida Panthers allow this to happen?

5. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning. He had a three-game stretch at the start of the Boston series where he did not record a point. Outside of that he has found his way onto the scoresheet in every playoff game the Lightning have played and enters Game 4 on Thursday night riding a four-game point streak. He has been the engine driving the Lightning all year.

6. Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals. Holtby has been an incredible playoff goalie throughout his entire career and is finally getting the goal support to make people notice it. Still one of the most mind-blowing Holtby stats is that he has been on the losing end of 14 games in his playoff career where he has allowed two goals or less. He has lost four games where he has allowed only one goal! He has consistently produced for the Capitals. He has deserved better. This year he is getting better and is a big reason why the team is so close to finally reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

7. Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets. From strictly an entertainment perspective he might be at the top of the list. Point-per-game player on defense, playing 26 minutes a night, plays a devastatingly physical game, has players bouncing off of him like he is a brick wall when they try to hit him, and he can drag multiple players around the ice by himself like they are nothing.

8. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning. He is playing 19 minutes per night (tops among all Lightning forwards) and has more even-strength points than any other player on the team. In just his second year in the NHL he has quickly become a key part of this core. Perhaps the lesson for the rest of the NHL here should be to not be afraid to take the undersized player if he proves he can put the puck in the net. The Lightning haven’t been afraid to do it and have built a team that has been in the NHL’s final four in three of the past four years.

MORE:
• Conference Finals schedule, TV info
• NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub

—

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.