The Vegas Golden Knights began their 2023-24 Stanley Cup title defense with a 4-1 win against the Seattle Kraken in the first game at T-Mobile Arena since the Stanley Cup was hoisted there just a few months ago. 18,724 people were in attendance for Tuesday’s game, which is the largest regular season attendance in Golden Knights history.
Those fans were able to witness the first-ever championship banner being raised in that arena, which is a moment that will go down in Las Vegas sports history and NHL history forever. The Golden Knights’ in-arena presentation team did not disappoint, with a creative nod to the Las Vegas culture that has shaped the organization’s identity since joining in 2017.
The Golden Knights now have a 6-1-0 all-time record in season-opening games, but none of those previous wins were as special as this one. The atmosphere in the arena was as exciting as when they won the Stanley Cup in June, and the team can only hope that they’ll be able to play in an environment like this for every home game throughout the season.
Shaking Off the Rust
There’s always a fear of a ‘Stanley Cup hangover’ for teams that win the championship and aren’t able to replicate the same success the following season. Fortunately for the Golden Knights, that hangover didn’t last very long in this game. It took over seven minutes for them to register a shot on goal, they took two penalties, and had no way of countering the Kraken’s overwhelming pace of play.
What got the Golden Knights’ offense rolling was their ability to capitalize on the Kraken’s costly turnovers in both the neutral and defensive zones. Outside of their opening goal, which came from an incredible passing play between the line of Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone and Brett Howden on their first shot of the game, the majority of their chances came from being positionally sound and causing the Kraken to make mistakes.
Jonathan Marchessault’s 2-0 goal was a perfect example of this.
This play starts with Jared McCann entering the zone against four Golden Knights who closed off any options he may have had to skate farther than two feet within their blue line. McCann miscommunicates with his winger and makes an error on a drop pass, leading to a turnover to Paul Cotter.
After Cotter crosses center and dumps the puck in, William Karlsson then pressures the defender and throws the puck in front of the net looking for Marchessault, who ended up redirecting the puck past Philip Grubauer a few moments later on an egregious error from Brandon Tanev. While this goal may look like a fluke based on how the puck managed to get into the net, the Golden Knights still did all the right things to create dangerous offensive opportunities.
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As a side note, this is the fourth season in a row that Marchessault has scored in the opening game of the season, and the fifth time in seven seasons. While his line started out a bit slow, he ended up being one of the most impactful forwards in the game, finishing with the highest Corsi For percentage (CF%) on the team at 5-on-5 with 58.33% and also the highest high danger chances for percentage (HDCF%) with 80%.
Adin Hill is the Real Deal
This headline might be obvious to some of you, but as someone who’s been skeptical of Adin Hill’s ability to maintain the level of dominance that we saw in the playoffs, this performance has definitely made me reconsider my thoughts. He stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced and was a huge reason that this game didn’t get out of hand early on for the Golden Knights when the pressure was at its highest.
Hill was playing with the intensity that he had in almost every playoff game last season. He wasn’t afraid to challenge shooters in one-on-one scenarios by frequently stepping out of his crease, making shooters uncomfortable by forcing them to make a decision earlier than anticipated. He also played with a level of desperation that was inspiring for the team in front of him, and it was evident in how the defense performed.
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Aside from Hill’s incredible play, the Golden Knights picked up right where they left things off in 2022-23 when it came to their commitment to shot blocking. They finished with three players inside the top 10 in blocked shots last season, and finished with 21 in this game. Whenever there was a defensive breakdown in their own zone, two or three players were within a foot of the goal crease to prevent any further damage from being done.
Injury List Grows Larger
A few of the players of the Stanley Cup-winning team were unfortunately unable to participate in this game. This list included Alec Martinez, who is dealing with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss at least another week of games, and Zach Whitecloud, who was moved to the long-term injured reserve (LTIR) on Tuesday, making him ineligible for the first 10 games of the season.
To make matters worse, William Carrier left halfway through the second period with an upper-body injury. Bruce Cassidy was unable to give any clear indications on Carrier’s status or if he would be missing any more time, but reiterated his concern for a player’s health when they leave a game that early and don’t return.
Carrier’s line alongside Nic Roy and Keegan Kolesar was one of the best groups of the game from the drop of the puck. Despite spending just under five minutes of ice time together, they finished with the second-most high-danger chances of all the Golden Knights lines (four), with Carrier leading the team in expected goals for percentage (xGF%) with 86.94%. While his absence may allow for someone else to earn a spot in the lineup, Carrier’s performance can’t go overlooked.
Kraken forward Brandon Tanev was also injured in this game following a dangerous open ice hit to the head from Brett Howden, which resulted in a five-minute major and an ejection. Tanev left the ice under his own power but was visibly shaken up as he landed hard with his leg also bending awkwardly. It’s unclear whether or not Howden will face any supplementary discipline, but given the injuries, the Golden Knights can’t afford to lose any more important assets.
Final Thoughts
It’s hard to get too excited after just one game, but if this is the type of play we can expect from the Golden Knights all season, I don’t see why they won’t be in contention to take home back-to-back Stanley Cups. They are such a well-oiled machine and they play with a level of swagger that makes it almost impossible for teams to shake them off their game plan. I guess winning a Stanley Cup will do that to you.
The Golden Knights will head to San Jose on Thursday to take on the Sharks for their first road game of the season, with puck drop set for 10:30 ET, 7:30 PT. They’ve put together a dominant record of 20-2-5 against the Sharks in the regular season over the past six years, and will look to carry the offensive firepower we saw against the Kraken over into this game.
