Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner (90) makes a save as Chicago Blackhawks' Kirby Dach (77) jumps during the third period in Game 5 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series, Tuesday, Aug. Tyler Toffoli scored three points in his return to the lineup, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 in Game 2 to even their Western Conference Second Round series at.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs continues with Friday’s Second Round matchup between the Canucks and Golden Knights. Game 7 coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Watch the Canucks-Golden Knights Game 7 stream at 9 p.m. ET on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Vancouver was led by a pair of rookies in last night’s 4-0 Game 6 win over Vegas. Thatcher Demko made 48 saves and Quinn Hughes tallied a goal and an assist to help the Canucks force a winner-take-all Game 7 tonight in Edmonton.
Demko became the eighth goaltender in NHL history to earn his first two career postseason wins in games when facing elimination. Demko’s 48 saves are tied for the fourth most in a playoff shutout since 1955-56 and he recorded the first playoff shutout in Canucks history.
Calder Trophy finalist Quinn Hughes continues to shine for Vancouver. The 20-year-old picked up his 15th and 16th points of the 2020 postseason to pass Colorado’s Cale Makar for the most in a playoff year by a rookie defenseman. Hughes’ 14 assists this postseason are tied for the most by a rookie in a single playoff all-time.
Although Vegas is currently one win away from reaching the Conference Final for the second time in three seasons, the Golden Knights have struggled to close out series over their last two playoffs. They have lost six of their last seven potential closeout games, with their only win in that span coming in Game 5 of the First Round against Chicago.
In all three instances of failing to close out an opponent this postseason, Vegas has run into a spectacular goaltending performance (Corey Crawford stopped 48 of 49 shots in Game 4 of the First Round; Demko stopped 42 of 43 shots in Game 5 and all 48 shots in Game 6).
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
WHAT: Vancouver Canucks vs. Vegas Golden Knights
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton
WHEN: Friday, September 4, 9 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
ON THE CALL: Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Canucks-Golden Knights stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
WHERE: Rogers Place – Edmonton
WHEN: Friday, September 4, 9 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
ON THE CALL: Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Canucks-Golden Knights stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 5 Vancouver Canucks (VGK wins 4-3)
Game 1: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 0 (recap)
Game 2: Canucks 5, Golden Knights 2 (recap)
Game 3: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0 (recap)
Game 4: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 3 (recap)
Game 5: Canucks 2, Golden Knights 1 (recap)
Game 6: Canucks 4, Golden Knights 0 (recap)
Game 7: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0 (recap)
Game 2: Canucks 5, Golden Knights 2 (recap)
Game 3: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0 (recap)
Game 4: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 3 (recap)
Game 5: Canucks 2, Golden Knights 1 (recap)
Game 6: Canucks 4, Golden Knights 0 (recap)
Game 7: Golden Knights 3, Canucks 0 (recap)
Golden Knight Score Live
Game 1 of the Golden Knights-Stars Western Conference Final will be Sunday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m. ET on NBC and the NBC Sports app
![Las vegas golden knights news Las vegas golden knights news](https://nhl.bamcontent.com/images/photos/302691950/1024x576/cut.jpg)
MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
- Marc-Andre Fleuryasked his agent to delete that tweet about Peter DeBoer, and indirectly, Robin Lehner.
- There was plenty of smack-talking between Ryan Reaves and Antoine Roussel. None of that outside drama made much of an impact on the Golden Knights’ dominance of the Canucks in Game 1, though.
- The Bruins made a 3-0 lead count against the Lightning, even if they didn’t dominate their Game 1 like the Golden Knights did.
NHL Scores: Game 1 of Bruins – Lightning and Golden Knights – Canucks
Game 1: Bruins 3, Lightning 2 (BOS leads series 1-0)
Charlie Coyle showed off his hand-eye coordination once again in Game 1, this time giving Boston a late-first-period lead with a deflection. Despite 18 SOG by the Lightning during the second period, the Bruins scored the lone goal when David Pastrnak buried a nice pass by David Krejci. When Patrice Bergeron created a turnover for Brad Marchand to eventually bury, it seemed like this would be one-sided, at least on the scoreboard. However, Victor Hedman scored two goals (both, strangely, bouncing off of Charlie McAvoy) to give the Lightning a chance. Ultimately, it was too little, too late for the Lightning.
Lightning – Bruins playoff series schedule
Game 1: Bruins 3, Lightning 2
Game 2: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 3: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 4: Friday, Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET – USA Network
*Game 5: Sunday, Aug. 30 – TBD
*Game 6: Tuesday, Sept. 1 – TBD
*Game 7: Wednesday, Sept. 2 – TBD
Game 2: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 3: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 4: Friday, Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET – USA Network
*Game 5: Sunday, Aug. 30 – TBD
*Game 6: Tuesday, Sept. 1 – TBD
*Game 7: Wednesday, Sept. 2 – TBD
*if necessary
Game 1: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 0 (VGK leads series 1-0)
Again, basically all of the drama surrounding Game 1 of Golden Knights – Canucks really didn’t have much of an impact on the ice. OK, you could say that Ryan Reaves and Antoine Roussel jawing at each other fired Vegas up. That’s subjective (although, to be fair, Reaves did deliver 10 hits). Also, if there’s any room for people to see Alan Walsh’s side of starting Marc-Andre Fleury (rather than, uh, stabbing MAF in the back?), it will need to happen later in this Second Round series. The Canucks rarely got many chances, and when they did, they were almost all from the perimeter.
Golden Knights – Canucks playoff series schedule
Game 1: Golden Knights 5, Canucks 0
Game 2: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 9:45 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 3: Thursday, Aug. 27, 9:45 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 4: Saturday, Aug. 29, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Game 5: Monday, Aug. 31 – TBD
*Game 6: Tuesday, Sept. 1 – TBD
*Game 7: Thursday, Sept. 3 – TBD
Game 2: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 9:45 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 3: Thursday, Aug. 27, 9:45 p.m. ET – NBCSN
Game 4: Saturday, Aug. 29, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Game 5: Monday, Aug. 31 – TBD
*Game 6: Tuesday, Sept. 1 – TBD
*Game 7: Thursday, Sept. 3 – TBD
*if necessary
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
Three Stars from Sunday in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs
1. Jaroslav Halak, Boston Bruins
If you look at the box scores alone, you’d argue that Robin Lehner deserves a spot on the top three, and maybe Lehner doesn’t deserve to be on it at all. After all, Lehner pitched a 26-save shutout, while Halak allowed two Victor Hedman goals.
But, honestly, those goals were funky, and Lehner didn’t need to do much (relatively speaking, for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs) to author his first NHL postseason shutout. Halak, meanwhile, was — in my opinion — the single person most responsible for either team winning on Sunday. Halak made 35 saves against the Lightning, providing some peace of mind for those who are still concerned about Tuukka Rask‘s absence.
2. David Pastrnak/Bruins top line
You might not get a better summary of what makes “The Perfection Line” of Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Patrice Bergeron so great than the 3-0 goal that ended up being the game-winner. Marchand created some havoc, then Bergeron stole the puck from Ryan McDonagh. Bergeron and Pastrnak then set up Marchand for a beautiful goal. Pastrnak also scored a big 2-0 power-play goal, one that would be key considering Tampa Bay’s second-period push.
3. Reilly Smith, Vegas Golden Knights
Depth is one of the things that makes the Golden Knights so scary. Again, Lehner pitched that 26-save shutout. Smith, meanwhile, picked up the primary assist and also scored the 2-0 goal in the Golden Knights’ Game 1 pasting of the Canucks. Smith’s two points came earlier than a comparable one-goal, one-assist output from Mark Stone. Interestingly, Smith’s line also faced Elias Pettersson more often at even-strength than Stone’s did, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Golden Knights shut down Pettersson and other Canucks scorers as a unit, so your results may vary. (You may also prefer Alex Tuch, who also went 1G, 1A). I’ll give Smith the very slight edge on this night, though. Stone and Lehner aren’t really hurting for attention, anyway, right?
Golden Knight Score Tonight
Game 1 Highlights: Bruins – Lightning; Golden Knights – Canucks
Again, what was a 3-0 goal and ended up being the game-winner was also a very pretty goal, if you need a single thing to latch on in Bruins – Lightning Game 1 highlights
Now that you got to see Bruins – Lightning highlights, here are the top moments from the Golden Knights’ win against the Canucks:
Factoids
- Robin Lehner earned his first career playoff shutout on Sunday.
- Via NHL PR, Brad Marchand now has 28 multi-point playoff games to his name. That’s third-most in Bruins playoff history, and just one behind Phil Esposito (29). Catching Ray Bourque won’t be easy, as Bourque managed 46 multi-point playoff games. In case you’re wondering, Patrice Bergeron ranks sixth with 25, while David Krejci’s one behind him in seventh with 24.
- The Golden Knights are now 9-0-2 against the Canucks all-time, via Sportsnet stats. (Click here for more Golden Knights – Canucks stats.)
Monday’s NHL Schedule
Game 1: Philadelphia Flyers vs. New York Islanders, 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Game 2: Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars, 9:45 p.m. ET, NBCSN
Game 2: Colorado Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars, 9:45 p.m. ET, NBCSN
MORE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
![Golden Golden](https://cdn.practicaldatacore.com/sportsunlimitedinc/mod_productImagesDownload/images/vegas-golden-knights-score-baby-blanket_mainProductImage_FullSize.jpg?cb=1587334203)
— Practice black jack online.
MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round schedule
--
James O’Brien is a writer forPro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at[email protected] or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.