It was more of the same last night, but unlike in Game 1, where Marc-Andre Fleury stood tall until the VGK could get their legs going, last night that didn’t happen for at least the first period and beyond. It forced the VGK to chase the game, unsuccessfully, for the final 40 minutes in their 3-2 loss at T-Mobile. The loss evened the series up at 1 game apiece. 

With the win last night, Montreal accomplished what they came to Las Vegas to do and that was win at least one of the 2 games, grabbing the home-ice advantage. Now, at least 3 potential games will be played in Montreal, with just 2 remaining in Las Vegas. It became a case of too little too late as Montreal scored 3 goals before Alex Pietrangelo finally got a puck behind Carey Price, who stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced. 

Vegas did push hard after their goal that came latein the second period to trim the lead to 3-1. Montreal seems more comfortable playingwhen they have the lead. In Game 1, they played better than the VGK in the firstperiod, but Vegas scoring first. Last night, the roles were reversed.

It didn’t help that ChandlerStephenson was scratched due to an undisclosed upper-body injury, which forced CoachDeBoer to juggle centers. So he broke up the 3^rd line, which has been playingwell, with Roy centering for Alex Tuch and Mattias Janmark. This movedidn’t work out in 2 ways: Roy didn’t create anything with Pacioretty and Stoneand the 3^rd line suffered.

In its first 2 years, theVGK’s weakness was at the blueline with their defenseman. But with the additionof Alec Martinez and Alex Pietrangelo over the last 2 seasons and the emergenceof Whitecloud and Hague, along with Shea Theodore, Nick Holden and Brayden McNabb,their inefficiency at the defensive position has been somewhat addressed.

Their weakness is now atthe center position. Their centers for their top 2 lines are players that couldn’tcrack the lineups for the Washington Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Granted,William Karlsson has proven that the hockey minds in Columbus were mistaken, especiallyin the 2017-18 season. But Karlsson has cooled off from those 43 goals in his firstseason in Las Vegas.

Chandler Stephenson has fit in comfortably betweenthe 2 snipers, Pacioretty and Stone. Stephenson’s speed creates more time and spacefor Max and Mark. Roy doesn’t have Stephenson’s speed and he appeared to have nochemistry with Pacioretty and Stone last night. That experiment was canceled whenRoy was returned to the 3^rd line and Kolesar was moved up. Keegan seemed to be a betterfit, but obviously, Stephenson’s absence had a rippling effect between the 1^st and the 3^rd lines. 

Was it the reason the VGKlost last night? Not entirely, but it sure didn’t help with getting pucks deep intoMontreal’s defensive zone; the Canadiens were comfortable playing rope-a-dope, knowingfull well they had Carey Price behind them to save their bacon. Price had a fewbig saves. One was on Alec Martinez, who took a cross-ice pass from Pietrangeloand had a clear shot. Price went left to right and got a piece of the puck, sendingit over the net. Max Pacioretty rang one off the post on a shot that had Price beat. 

When they have the lead, the Canadiens clog theneutral zone, forcing the VGK to surrender their game plan of skating the puck intothe offensive zone. Montreal is 9-1 when they score the first goal of the game,while Vegas has been outscored 15-8 in the first periods of their 15 playoff games.

Alex Pietrangelo, who has found his game, addedhis 2^nd goal of the night to closethe gap to 3-2. It was his first 2-goal playoff performance. The Knights did everythingthey could to tie it up, but to no avail.

Other game notes.

Montreal had more shotsin the first period than they in the 2^nd and 3^rd periods combined —12 and 11, respectively.

Vegas went 0-2 on the power play, which has beena problem for the entire season and it continues in the playoffs.

Vegas outshot Montreal 27-11 in the last 2 periods,but it wasn’t enough. You can’t spot a team 3-goal lead this deep in the playoffsand expect a good result. The 12 Vegas forwards had 14 shots combined.Three defenseman, Pietrangelo (7), Martinez (4), and Theodore (4), had 15.

In the 2 VGK power plays, they registered apaltry 2 SOG. They’re 0 for 6 on their power play in the first 2 games.Montreal has killed off the last 21 power plays they’ve faced and have given up3 PPG in 37 attempts, all in Round 1 vs. Toronto.

If Stephenson isn’t available tomorrow, will Deboertry Janmark between Stone and Pacioretty to create the missing speed?

Fleury blamed himself postgame for Paul Byron’swinning goal with just 2:15 left in the first period. In his attemtp to poke checkthe puck from Byron, Fleury committed early. Byron reacted to it and lifted thepuck up and over the outstretched goaltender.

My 3 Stars of the Game

1) Paul Byron (1G, the GWG)

2) Alex Pietrangelo (2G,+2, and 7 SOG along with 5 hits)

3) Carey Price (29 saveson 31 shots, .935 save %)

Next game is tomorrownight at the Belle Center at 5 p.m. Pacific Time

If you want to hear and see more VGK content please check out the podcast I do with Eddie Rivkin on YouTube, Hockey Knights in Vegas.

Your comments and opinions are welcomehere at Las Vegas Advisor or you may contact me directly at [email protected] or on my Facebook page, Vegas Hockey Guy, oron Twitter @TheRealJoePane

One other note: If you’re reading this blog from Facebook or Twitter and would like to access it earlier in the morning before I share it on social media, it’s usually published by 8 a.m. the morning after a game on LasVegasAdvisor.com. What better way is there to enjoy your morning coffee than reading my take on last night’s VGK game.

Pietrangelo’s first goal

Pietrangelo’s second goal

Fleury misses the poke check and Byron scores the GWG

Carey Price robs Martinez of a sure goal