Ed Graney came to the Review-Journal in May of 2006 as its lead sports columnist. He has covered all major sporting events, including Super Bowls to NBA championships to every Final Four since 1995. Graney also covered the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). A graduate of San Diego State University, he is a five-time Nevada Sportswriter of the Year and past winner of Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 for columns. He and wife Bonnie have two children, a son (Tristan) and daughter (Bridget).
You can’t fault a team that managed 13 sacks all last season after trading away the league’s best edge rusher in Khalil Mack for taking a defensive end, and it’s not like Clelin Ferrell of Clemson fell into 27 career sacks for one of the nation’s top college programs.
History has defined the Golden Knights since their inception. But this is the kind they won’t soon forget. This kind will be talked about for decades to come, and not in a flattering manner.
The Sharks on Sunday night avoided elimination for the second straight game in dramatic fashion, beating the Golden Knights 2-1 in double overtime of Game 6 in this Western Conference quarterfinal before what ultimately became a despondent 18,458 fans at T-Mobile Arena.
San Jose forward Tomas Hertl said the Sharks were better than the Golden Knights and would win Game 6 in Las Vegas to force Game 7 at SAP Center.
This best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series isn’t over because San Jose didn’t want it to be, because they were the better side Thursday night in beating the Golden Knights 5-2.
Here’s how the Knights need to approach Game 5 of the best-of-seven playoff series Thursday night at the SAP Center: Play their game and let the San Jose continue to implode.
Nothing separates playoff teams like the skill of goaltenders, and right now the Golden Knights hold a large advantage thanks to the play of Marc-Andre Fleury.
The star forward from Russia, fresh from signing a one-year, entry level contract, will be wearing a suit instead of skates Tuesday night when the Knights and Sharks meet in Game 4 of a best-of-seven playoff series at T-Mobile Arena.
Golden Knights forward Mark Stone had a hat trick Sunday and has six goals in the first three games, leading a second line that is giving the Sharks all sorts of matchup headaches.
Seven years ago, two Review-Journal columnists weighed in on whether or not Tiger Woods would ever again win a Masters.
If the idea about March Madness is to survive-and-advance, the Knights on Friday night defined playoff hockey as survive-the-lunacy, and in the process won 5-3 and climbed straight into this best-of-seven Western Conference series.
Home ice for San Jose in the first round of this best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series means for the Knights to advance they would have to win at least one game — and perhaps more — in a place the Sharks were terrific over a majority of the season.
The Golden Knights need to be a whole lot better at everything to have a chance at evening the best-of-seven series against San Jose in Game 2 on Friday, and near the top of such a list is making things far more difficult on a couple star blue liners.
San Jose has come to play in this best-of-seven Western Conference affair with the Golden Knights, and whichever team survives to advance will do so with plenty of black and blue to show for it after the Sharks’ 5-2 victory Wednesday night in Game 1.
The Sharks possess a big edge against the Golden Knights in their best-of-seven series, and it begins when a Vegas player takes a seat in the penalty box.
