The two words that make hockey fans most excited are Game 7. The words that make Golden Knights most want to puke are Game 7.
For the second year in a row, a 3-1 series lead has led to a winner-take-all elimination game. The Golden Knights’ advantage in the series is gone — they’re still favored at sportsbooks to win today’s 6 p.m. game, but now they’re facing a Vancouver Canucks team that has won two in a row and has started to believe they can upset the big, bad Knights.
Working against the Golden Knights tonight isn’t just a reinvigorated Vancouver team. They have to beat the Canucks, but they also have to beat last year’s demons.
“Obviously every year is different,” Vegas defenseman Nick Holden said. “We’re excited about the opportunity tonight to win this series, and with the quick turnaround, I think it’s a positive to be able to reset real quick and get back out there.”
Everyone knows what happened last year. Vegas led the Sharks 3-1 in the series before going to Game 7. The Golden Knights didn’t let the previous losses faze them, grabbing a 3-0 lead in the game before a certain penalty occurred that tipped the scales.
The Golden Knights insist this is a different team, and they’re definitely right. A quarter of the forwards, a third of the defense and half the goaltending duo weren’t on the roster last year and weren’t around for one of the most controversial Game 7s in history.
But it’s impossible not to think about. They all remember what happened last season. All they can do now is turn it into a positive.
“Obviously there was a big up to an even bigger down last year,” Vegas forward Alex Tuch said. “We know that anything can happen in a Game 7, and I think using that experience can help us tonight and make sure we’re on our toes form the beginning.”
The biggest obstacle to the Golden Knights’ success the last two nights has been Vancouver's 24-year-old rookie goalie Thatcher Demko, who made 90 saves on 91 shots in the last two games to force tonight’s showdown. The last two games were the first starts of his playoff career.
Tuch knows Demko well. They played together on the U.S. National Team Development Program growing up, then were teammates at Boston College. Tuch isn’t surprised that Demko has been able to play as well as he has, but he’s also not taking it easy on his old friend.
“I played with him for several years. I know him really well, but he’s on the other side, so I’m going to try to do everything in my power to get as many pucks past him as need be,” Tuch said. “He’s playing really well, but we’re going to come out and try to break him tonight."
Canucks coach Travis Green did not commit to a starting goalie, only saying that “whoever plays for us tonight is going to have to be at his best.”
Still, considering his performance the last two nights, it’s hard to envision Demko on the bench tonight. Vegas’ goalie decision is less cut and dry. The Golden Knights have the choice between Robin Lehner, the new starting goalie with 11 starts in 14 games, or Marc-Andre Fleury, the future Hall of Famer with a history of Game 7 success.
It being a back-to-back only complicates things. The Golden Knights have faced two back-to-backs this postseason, and in each instance, Lehner started one and Fleury the other. The easy decision would have been to start Fleury in Game 6. If he and Vegas win, they’re on to the next round. If he and Vegas lose, it’s easy to return to a rested for Lehner for Game 7.
Coach Peter DeBoer wasn’t interested in the easy decision. He started Lehner because he felt that was the Golden Knights’ best path to victory. Lehner allowed two goals in Game 5 and three in Game 6, though it is hard to blame the goalie for two losses when the offense scores once in those two games.
DeBoer, like he has throughout the second round, also declined to name a starter.
“Best chance to win,” he said. “That’s the only thought process. Who gives us the best chance to win?”
The Canucks have a scary good core, one that is just young, scrappy and hungry enough to not care about a 3-1 series deficit. This is the same team that eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champions in the first round, after all. A healthy disrespect to the favorites in the playoffs never hurt anybody.
And now it comes down to one game on a Friday night in Edmonton that will define the Golden Knights’ season, for better or worse. It wasn’t lost on anybody that Vegas was the same situation last year and lost, and now the coach that comeback against Vegas is tasked with preventing another postseason collapse this year.
If the Golden Knights win, they’ll be in the Western Conference Final knowing they can overcome that adversity of losing a lead. If they lose, it will be a long time before Vegas fans will ever be able to hear the words Game 7 again without a gut-punch reminder of what has happened twice.
Series: Tied 3-3
TV: NBC Sports Network (DirecTV 220, Cox 38, CenturyLink 640)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-240, Canucks plus-190; over/under: 6 (EVEN, minus-120)
Golden Knights (10-4, Western Conference No. 1 seed)
Previous round: Defeated Chicago in first round, 4-1
Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)
Points leaders: Mark Stone, Shea Theodore (15)
Goals leaders: Alex Tuch (7)
Assists leaders: Shea Theodore (10)
Expected goalie: Robin Lehner (2.17 GAA, .914 save percentage)
Canucks (10-6, Western Conference No. 7 seed)
Previous round: Defeated St. Louis in first round, 4-2
Coach: Travis Green (third season)
Points leaders: J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson (18)
Goals leader: Bo Horvat (10)
Assists leaders: Quinn Hughes (14)
Expected goalie: Thatcher Demko (0.47 GAA, .990 save percentage)
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Max Pacioretty—William Karlsson—Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith
Nick Cousins—Nicolas Roy—Alex Tuch
William Carrier—Chandler Stephenson—Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt
Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore
Nick Holden—Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Robin Lehner, Marc-Andre Fleury
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