In Edmonton, Reilly Smith scored twice in the third period to put an end to any doubts that the Vegas Golden Knights would not win Game 1 of their series with the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
“When [our line] is skating and getting on the puck quickly, we’re able to turn pucks over,” Smith said. “I think my linemates (center Paul Stastny and Jonathan Marchessault) did a great job being able to get in there on the forecheck and cause havoc and turn that into quick offense. When we’re bringing our legs like we did tonight, we create a lot more offense for each other.”
Former Hawks, Robin Lehner, made 19 saves for the win over his old team.
“I know a lot of their tendencies and know what they’re trying to do on the power play, but it becomes a little bit of a reverse psychology,” Lehner said. “I knew they were going to mix it up on me, and on all the in-tight chances, they tried to go five-hole. I kind of anticipated that before the game. Next game, they’ll probably try something else.”
David Kampf had the only goal for Chicago.
“I think part of the success we had comes from using speed, getting pucks deep, making clean plays when we can make them,” Chicago’s Duncan Keith said. “I think we can do a better job with our breakouts, getting back for pucks, but it was a pretty close game. They stuck with their systems a little longer and got a few goals, and when that happens, we need to stay patient and stick with it.”
Shea Theodore and William Carrier staked the Knights to a 2-0 lead before the Chciago goal.
“I think we just got a better forecheck in the offensive zone, and we were just able to generate speed out of the neutral zone,” Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault said. “We were first on the puck in the offensive zone and making good decisions, and I think we just took over in the second and third period.”
Marchessault assisted on both of Smith’s strikes in the third period.
[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Golden Knights Game 1 highlights]
Corey Crawford made 30 saves in the loss.
“We had a lot of one-and-dones,” Chicago’s Brandon Saad said. “The biggest thing is getting out of our zone clean, playing hockey in their end. We had some shifts when we pinned them in, but we didn’t get clean pucks to the net. We want to pin them in their end and play hockey down there.”
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