The Vegas Golden Knights supposedly played a preseason hockey contest at Staples Center on Thursday night. They also scored seven goals against the Los Angeles Kings, and reportedly won 7-2 by those in attendance who saw it.
Conventional wisdom would have you believe that a game between the I-15 rivals would be picked up by somebody. Literally anybody. No? Not a single soul?
Fortunately, radio is a thing and it is glorious. Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM was on scene to call such a wonderful rousing 60 minutes of the Golden Knights scoring their second touchdown of the preseason. On this day that we pay homage to the Cleveland Browns, such football terminology will be accepted at this time.
Vegas defeated Los Angeles 7-2. The Golden Knights have won the past five games against the Kings, dating back to the four-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs. This game was the Vegas first line and a bunch of other guys. Oscar Dansk(!) also played a Golden Knights game for the first time in lord knows how long, and he got the victory.
Let’s give it a whirl.
Here’s a start.. pic.twitter.com/WpAl4UHx2U
— VGK Knight in Armor (@VGKnightinArmor) September 21, 2018
The first line keeps doing first-line things
Think about preseason last year — no certain lines, no superstars, no established presence. The Golden Knights spent last preseason trying to form some ounce of identity with whatever little time they had. It’s a bit different this time, having the best top line in hockey playing an exhibition slate and wondering how in the world are they so good.
Vegas’ lines on Thursday were the first line and a bunch of huh. Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and had two assists. Reilly Smith had a goal and three helpers. William Karlsson had a goal and an assist.
Those three had nine points in the first 23:51 of the game. Yeah, they’re ready.
This was Smith’s first go-round with his linemates this preseason — he did not play against Arizona on Sunday. The talk of if the chemistry between 81, 71 and 19 can carry over to Year 2 is being answered with a resounding yes. Hockey’s preseason is weird in that guys don’t take off time during the second half of games. But in all retrospect, the Karlsson line can take off for the rest of the preseason. There’s no more that needs to be seen.
Oscar Dansk is back
Remember No. 35? The third goalie? Dansk Dansk Revolution?
Well, Oscar returned to the ice in a Golden Knights sweater for the first time since a lower-body injury ended his season after three wins — filling in for the also-injured Malcolm Subban, who filled in for Marc-Andre Fleury, who was filled in by Maxime Lagace, who was benched for Dylan Ferguson for about 10 minutes.
Remember all of that? Good.
Dansk made 17 saves in the victory, marking the third time in preseason the Golden Knights have gone start to finish with one goalie.
With the hoopla that happened in the crease for Vegas from October to December, Dansk seems to be the one forgotten about. Dansk went 3-0 with Vegas — that included the relief win against St. Louis, which Subban left, a 29-save performance against Chicago and the first Vegas shutout in history on Nevada Day, Oct. 27, against Colorado. He sustained a lower-body injury at the Islanders on Oct. 30 and was not seen from the rest of the year.
He was outstanding in his time with the Chicago Wolves, going 13-3-1 with a goals-against average of 2.44. Dansk has also had a solid camp.
This is something we’re not talking much about with four preseason games to go: Who’s backing up Fleury? The battle between Subban and Dansk is going to be one to watch for in the coming weeks. Vegas is more than likely not taking three goalies to opening night. One’s got to go through waivers, and surely either one of them will be snatched.
When can we watch the Golden Knights on TV again?
Not for another week. However!
Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM will be covering play-by-play shenanigans for at least Saturday and Monday’s game. Yes you’re going to have to go back to the 1920s for a few more games, much like when your great grandfather sat in his rocker two feet away from the radio, listening to the Chicago Cubs.
It’s a tad ridiculous, but not the end of the world.