This season has been challenging, to say the least and March has been a real test of character and resolve for the VGK—players, coaches, front office.

Prior to the last 2 games at T-Mobile, we suffered through a torturous 5-game losing streak to 4 teams with early golf tee times; 4 of them will not be playing in May. These were games that the VGK could have, should have, and needed to win, even with their long list of missing players. But they didn’t and they’re now fighting for their playoff lives. Truthfully, for the first time in their four years, I had them with a very weak pulse rate and very likely not making the playoffs after the road trip.

Back at T-Mobile, many didn’t think they could win the first game against the Florida Panthers. That included not only myself, but even
Pete DeBoer, who never throws his players under a bus. Pete called out his goaltending tandem of Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson with scathing words: “We need people to get in front of pucks.”

Well, Logan Thompson responded with 2 solid performances. In the second game against the L.A. Kings, he stopped a career-high 38 shots of the 39 he faced, with 19 of the 38 saves in the 3rd period alone, notch a 5-1 win on his belt.

In the game against Florida, Logan held the #1 goal-scoring machine to just 3 goals in their 5-3 victory. Yes, the VGK, who were struggling to score goals, have scored 10 in the last 2 games (granted, 2 into an empty net) to the delight of the VGK faithful, who haven’t had a whole lot to cheer about this season.

Wins at T-Mobile have not come with the same frequency as in previous seasons. The penalty-killing unit, which has always been at the top of the league, has had its troubles this season, even with a league-high 9 shorthanded goals. The ninth came yesterday when Mattias Janmark scored his 8th goal of the season with 3:36 left in the 2nd period to regain the 2-goal lead that Vegas held with goals by Dadonov late in the first period and a power-play goal by Chandler Stephenson just 39 seconds into the 2nd period. Dadonov has now scored 4 goals in his last 4 games; this is secondary scoring that Vegas so desperately needs while Stone, Pacioretty, and Smith are sidelined. Chandler Stephenson’s power-play goal was his 15th of the season and a career high. Last season, Stephenson scored 14 goals in 51 games yesterday was his 61st game.

After the Florida game, it appeared that Jack Eichel would be just another body added to the long list of VGK injured players. But to everyone’s surprise, including Pete DeBoer and the 18,136 in attendance at T-Mobile, he played. DeBoer shared with us that it wasn’t until right before the game that he knew Jack would be good to go. Still, it was clear that Eichel was not 100%; he didn’t take a faceoff for the entire game and it showed in the stats as L.A. won the bulk of the faceoffs 65% to 35%. Winning faceoffs is important; it gives teams possession of the puck and that showed up in the shots on goal: L.A. 39, VGK 24. It’s not often teams outshoot Vegas, but with the dominating faceoff percentage, L.A. had the puck more than Vegas.

The flip side to this stat is that without the puck, Vegas took the body more than usual in their attempt to regain control of possession of the puck. Vegas outhit L.A. 44 to 37 in one of the rare games this year that Vegas had more hits than the opposing team.

Has DeBoer lost confidence in Laurent Brossoit? He started Thompson against the high-scoring Florida Panthers, then came right back with him yesterday and commented post-game about putting in the player he believes gives the team the best shot to win.

With Lehner sidelined and no one knowing the extent of his injury, is it possible that this was a test for Thompson to see if he can be the backup for Lehner next season? If so, it will give the VGK the option to move Brossoit on Monday at the trade deadline for a goaltender with playoff history. Two goaltenders may be on the move and if Vegas is indeed looking for a backup for Lehner, there’s Semyon Varlamov of the NY Islanders, who has 60 playoff games in his resume, but also has a $5 million salary, so another contract would need to be moved (Brossoit has a $2.325 million cap hit). The other goaltender rumored to be available is NY Rangers backup Alexandar Georgiev. The only downside to Georgiev is that he has zero playoff experience. But he’s played in 120 NHL games and his salary is only $2.425 million, very close to Brossoit’s. Laurent has only 27 minutes of playoff experience with the Edmonton Oilers where he gave up 2 goals on just 8 shots.

Tomorrow will be interesting. With these last 2 wins, Vegas has crawled back into the playoff picture. How will McCrimmon and McPhee play their hand? Will they take these last 2 wins as a sign there is life in this team and look to make a splash? Or knowing the extent of the injuries, do they become sellers and pack it in till next season?

Game Notes and Quotes

“The more reps I get, the more comfortable I get,” Thompson said. “I was able to get in the game early and I definitely just kept feeding off it. The guys in front were doing a great job. It definitely made my job easier.”

DeBoer on Eichel: “He gutted it out. He’s a guy who can play with some pain. It’s that time of year. I’ve been really impressed with him — his battle level, his will to compete, his willingness to play a 200-foot playoff-type game for us. Now he’s willing to play through some injuries in order to be out there helping us.”

Stephenson on his power-play goal that was assisted by Eichel: “I didn’t have to do anything, just put my stick there,” Stephenson said. “That’s the kind of player [Eichel] is. He’s an All-Star. You can be anywhere. Even if there are three or four guys in front of you, he seems to find you. His game seems to keep getting better and better. It’s fun to watch.”

Thompson’s previous NHL high was 35 saves in a 4-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Feb. 20.

My 3 Stars Of The Game: Logan Thompson (38 saves on 37 shots for his 2nd win in a row), Chandler Stephenson (PPG and the GWG), Mattias Janmark (shorthanded goal for the league-high 9th; they are tied with Florida for the most shorties)

Next game is tomorrow at Minnesota 5 p.m. Pacific Time

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Dadonov opens the scoring

Stephenson PPG off of a sweet pass from Eichel

Janmark shorthanded goal