He once went an all-time NHL record of 332 minutes, 1 second without allowing a goal. So if there’s anybody qualified to talk about how red-hot playoff goalies can go tepid, it’s Brian Boucher.
Sports Columns
For openers, Marc-Andre Fleury and counterpart Braden Holtby weren’t sharp to begin the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, won by the Golden Knights 6-4 over the Washington Capitals.
Like leading scorer William Karlsson, Vegas Golden Knights’ good-luck charm Stanley the ceramic rooster has become a successful reclamation project in the team’s quest for the Stanley Cup.
A best-of-seven series between the Golden Knights and Washington commences Monday evening, and the Vegas general manager also spent 17 years with the Capitals in the same capacity.
Nothing stresses a community like having to recover from bombs or a mass shooting, and nothing can emerge as a beacon of hope like the simplicity of a winning team.
By now, you’ve probably seen the asterisk or the parentheses, which is how one TV graphic listed the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues in context with the Golden Knights and making it to the Stanley Cup Final as an expansion team.
Vegas is two wins from the Stanley Cup Final after defeating Winnipeg 4-2 on Wednesday night in the Western Conference Final before an announced gathering of 18,477 at T-Mobile Arena.
It has been a quarter-century since a Canadian-based franchise has hoisted the Stanley Cup, which has become something of an issue north of the border.
It wasn’t exactly Joe Namath guaranteeing a victory at the Miami Touchdown Club three days before Super Bowl III. But when the Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault spoke his mind before Game 2 of the Western Conference Final, the Golden Knights responded.
The scene outside Bell MTS Place for Game 2 on Monday will assuredly equal or perhaps even upstage the four-block madhouse of a party that welcomed the hockey world Saturday, especially given Winnipeg beat Vegas 4-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final series.
From 1993 to 1999, the Las Vegas Thunder shared the Thomas Mack Center with the UNLV basketball team, outdrew the Rebels at the turnstiles and showed that pro hockey not only could survive in the Las Vegas desert but also could flourish.
Heading into Game 7 of the Winnipeg-Nashville second-round series, the home teams have won 31 games in the NHL playoffs and the away teams have won 33.
It has been 28 years — 27 if you count the Rebels’ return to the Final Four in 1991 when they lost to Duke — since a local sports team has captivated and galvanized Las Vegas in the manner of the Golden Knights.
The 3-1 favorite should get a favorable pace scenario, but can he last 1 1/4 miles? See what horse racing columnist Mike Brunker, the #RJhorseracing handicappers and guest experts Bob Ike, Patrick McQuiggan and Ellis Star think.
In winning yet another Stanley Cup playoff game Monday night, Vegas players again reminded those asking questions afterward of a certain incentive that has defined their expansion journey.