Golden Knights plan shift to slower speed after wild win
Forward Alex Tuch slept real well Saturday night after the Golden Knights beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-3 in a wild game at T-Mobile Arena that featured a steady stream of breakaways and odd-man rushes.
“It was so tiring,” Tuch said with a laugh. “Oh my God, I was gassed. Try getting two full ice breakaways and let me know how that works out for you.”
Tuch joked it was the kind of game coaches and goalies hate.
Knights coach Gerard Gallant was able to enjoy it at least a little because his team won. Gallant felt it was the kind of game that was much more common back when he played.
He was actually quick to credit both goalies for not allowing the score to be even higher.
“It very easily could have been a 9-7 or 8-6 type of game last night,” Gallant said. “I think we had five breakaways and didn’t score on any of them.”
Tuch doesn’t think it represents a new style for the Knights, however.
“That’s not our game,” he said. “It was fun, but it was stressful. I don’t think we like playing those run-and-gun games too much. We got the upper hand and capitalized a little bit more, but the back-and-forth and all the breaks, that’s not us. We won’t make that a habit. We’re always a defense-first team. That’s our mentality. We’ll clean it up for sure.”
Tuch believes Minnesota’s style will also help keep Monday’s game a bit more under control.
Fleury gets offensive
Marc-Andre Fleury earned his second assist of the season Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a pass that helped set up Jonathan Marchessault’s empty-net goal.
But Fleury wanted more.
The goaltender also took a long shot at an empty net, but Penguins center Evgeni Malkin knocked it out of the air. Fleury didn’t think he would’ve scored anyway.
“I think it was a little wide to the right,” a smiling Fleury said.
He added that while the assist was nice, he liked his save from close range on former teammate Sidney Crosby even more.
“I like to stop him more but the puck rolled on him so he didn’t get the best shot that he wanted, I think,” Fleury said.
Miller faces early test
The Knights didn’t take it easy on Colin Miller in his first game since Dec. 17.
Gerard Gallant matched the defenseman, who missed the previous 13 games with an upper-body injury, and partner Nick Holden against the Penguins’ second line of Evegeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel for most of the game in 5-on-5 situations.
It was a display of faith in Miller, since he was on the ice for two Kessel breakaway goals the last time the teams met Oct. 11.
“Yeah it was definitely a challenge, I mean Phil Kessel made me look pretty stupid last time we were in Pittsburgh,” Miller said. “I think it was nice. We knew it was going to be a tough test. I think Shea Theodore and Deryk Engelland normally get that second line, but for whatever reason we were getting them a little bit more.”
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
