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.
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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.
Sports executives such as Golden Knights general manager George McPhee and many who work for them mostly exist within a sizable bubble of paranoia when it comes to releasing a shred of information on players.
Vegas immediately fell behind and then chased all evening of a 4-2 defeat at Bell MTS Place in the opener of the Western Conference Final.
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.
AJ Mleczko provided insight during the first six games of the Winnipeg-Nashville series as an NBC hockey analyst, which makes her something of an expert on the Knights’ opponent in the Western Conference Final that begins Saturday.
It’s a safe bet things weren’t as physical as the final stats suggested — 127 hits were officially recorded — but that doesn’t mean Vegas didn’t send an important message.
Sports gaming folks tell you a good side to always bet against is the team coming off a long road trip, and the Knights certainly proved the notion true in a 4-1 loss.
The Astros are a minus-175 series favorite over the Yankees (plus-155) and a minus-160 favorite in Friday’s Game 1, which pits Dallas Keuchel against Masahiro Tanaka (plus-150).