Hatred for Kings fuels Ryan Reaves in Golden Knights’ 2-0 win
Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves never has been shy about expressing his distaste for the Kings.
He took out his frustration through more than just his physical play, scoring the first goal of the Knights’ 2-0 preseason win over Los Angeles on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
“I get up for the game anytime we play them,” Reaves said of competing against a Kings squad that left most of its stars home. “It goes back years for me, and the hatred is never going to leave.”
It was the first action of the preseason for Reaves, who suffered a facial laceration early in training camp.
He broke the scoreless tie at 6:55 of the second period when he created space in front of the net and got enough of his stick on Jonathan Marchessault’s shot to redirect it through the pads of Jack Campbell.
The offensive heroics didn’t keep him from fulfilling his usual duties for the Knights.
He lit up Oscar Fantenberg in the second period along the wall and briefly mixed it up with Kurtis MacDermid in the third.
“I can’t act like a goal scorer all year,” Reaves said jokingly. “Tonight was good, though. It’s easy to get up for these ones when you have fans like that. It didn’t feel like preseason at all. I had a lot of time off to watch the boys, and now it was time to get to work.”
Knights coach Gerard Gallant had expressed concern earlier in the day about how the team would react to a two-day break in training camp this week for a team bonding trip to owner Bill Foley’s ranch in Montana.
“It was a messy game,” Gallant said. “I don’t think anybody played really well. I didn’t take a lot out of it, but overall, we worked hard, we got something out of the game and our goalie was really good, and that’s really key.”
Brayden McNabb added an empty-net goal.
Here’s what we learned:
1. Fleury appears ready for the season
The Knights’ starting goalie was outstanding in his debut, stopping 26 shots.
Fleury got a piece of an on-target redirection from just in front of the net by Trevor Lewis midway through the first period and denied Austin Wagner on a partial breakaway moments later.
Wagner again was victimized late in the second period when Fleury poke-checked the puck away as Wagner tried to cross the front of the goal after getting behind the defense.
Fleury also got a chance to pat and thank the crossbar when Adrian Kempe’s third-period shot ringed off it.
“That first game, you never know how it’s going to turn out,” Fleury said. “So I was happy it wasn’t too bad.”
2. Shea Theodore is close to being ready
Theodore was pressed into action after agreeing to a long-term contract with the Knights on Monday, logging 20:50 of ice time.
That was second on the team to defensive partner Deryk Engelland.
“First game of the year, you’re going to have some rust,” Theodore said. “There’s a few plays I’d like back, but it was the first of two shots before the real deal begins, but I felt better in the third, which is what I’m going to build off.”
3. Daniel Carr gets extended audition
Carr, who has spent parts of the past three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, was inserted into the lineup in what could be one of his final chances to make an impression — and the roster.
The 26-year-old forward, who signed a one-year deal as a restricted free agent in July, said he was pleased with his effort.
“I thought our line did a lot of good things,” Carr said. “We took a lot of pucks to the net and had some chances down there. Some nights they go in, and sometimes they don’t.”
Carr’s playing time might have come at the expense of Alex Tuch, who was scratched. Gallant said there was no issue with Tuch, that he just wanted to look at players in different spots.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
