The Avalanche humiliates the Golden Knights

Vegas Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer surprised many when he preferred goalie Robin Lehner to Quebecois Marc-André Fleury for the first game of the second round series against the Colorado Avalanche. The 52-year-old will undoubtedly regret his decision, since his team lost 7-1 on Sunday in Denver.

The Avalanche had a two-goal lead after twenty minutes, but it was in the second half that Jared Bednar’s team really came out on top, scoring four goals.

In the third period, the Nevada squad tried to retaliate by hitting the Avalanche skaters, which led to several violent scenes. Ryan Reaves, among others, was sentenced to 16 minutes, including 14 on the same streak, he who was taken out of the game and who, at the same time, gave his rivals a nine-minute power-play advantage. Due to the seriousness of his actions, Reaves may well have to explain his actions to the Department of Player Safety.

The big guns of the Avalanche enlivened the spectacle. Defenseman Cale Makar rocked the ropes once, in addition to being the accomplice of three other goals, while Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each scored two goals in addition to amassing an assist. For his part, Mikko Rantanen ended the meeting with a success and an assist.

In front of the winners’ net, Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves, while Lehner was left in front of his own net for the whole match by DeBoer. The Swede has given up seven times on 37 shots.

The second game of the series will take place on Wednesday, still at the Ball Arena.

04:55 – Mikko Rantanen defeats Robin Lehner’s vigilance with a backhand shot from an almost impossible angle.

7:55 AM – Brandon Saad is kicked out for carrying his stick too high to defenseman Zach Whitecloud.

10:13 – Gabriel Landeskog makes 2-0 on a superb staging by Cale Makar.

1:04 AM – Brandon Saad picks up a loose puck and scores a third straight goal for the Avalanche.

4:03 AM – Nathan MacKinnon beats Robin Lehner with a quick wrist shot and goes 4-0.

8:26 AM – Ryan Graves is penalized for obstruction after delivering a devastating body check to Mattias Janmark who lay on the ice for several seconds before retreating to the locker room.

8:26 AM – Tyson Jost and Nicolas Roy are both sent to the dungeon for rudeness following Graves’ hard contact with Janmark.

10:49 – William Carrier is punished for bullying Cale Makar.

1:15 PM – William Carrier tries to defeat Mattias Janmark and receives two minutes of punishment for attacking Ryan Graves.

2:23 PM – Gabriel Landeskog scored his second of the game on a superb rally started by Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon on the power play.

2:59 PM – William Karlsson accepts Jonathan Marchessault’s pass and narrows the gap to four goals.

5:05 PM – Nathan MacKinnon pulls off a simply incredible play and propels the Avalanche forward 6-1.

03:47 – Max Pacioretty takes his anger out on Quebecer Samuel Girard and gets away with a high stick penalty.

03:47 – JT Compher is punished for having bullied Max Pacioretty on this same sequence.

03:47 – Nicolas Hague and Andre Burakovsky are kicked out for being rough after the whistle.

8:04 AM – The meeting of Ryan Reaves is over for being nicknamed Ryan Graves who had to leave the match in bad shape. Reaves was awarded a penalty for extreme misconduct in addition to a minor for harshness.

8:04 AM – Valeri Nichushkin, Zach Whitecloud, Alex Pietrangelo and Brandon Saad are also kicked out of the game for misconduct.

3:49 PM – Cale Makar continues his dominance and scores his fourth point of the game with a perfect receiving shot from the top of the net.