Patience pays off for Golden Knights in Game 2 win

Greedy? Why not?

Patience? Absolutely.

There was a golden opportunity for the Vegas Golden Knights to put their skate on the throat of the Colorado Avalanche Friday night. And the Knights did just that, thanks to their top line.

Ivan Barbashev scored twice and Jack Eichel also scored to erase a 1-0 deficit as the Knights took a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Final with a 3-1 win at Ball Arena.

With All-Star defenseman Cale Makar still absent for Colorado in Game 2 and the Avalanche needing to win to even the best-of-seven, the Knights were able to gain the upper hand.

“We tried to defend well and play as much as we could in their end,” Eichel said. “So much credit to the whole group. It was just a really gutsy effort.”

Game 3 is Sunday at T-Mobile Arena. If the Knights hold serve on home ice, they’ll be playing for the Stanley Cup for the third time in the franchise’s nine-year history.

Unlike Game 1, where the Knights built a 3-0 lead and had enough cushion to post a 4-2 victory, they found themselves in an all-too-familiar position Friday. Which is to say they were chasing the game.

Mind you, 1-0 is not too big an obstacle to overcome. We’re talking one shot. But when Vegas had its chances, and it did, it was unable to convert.

There was a Mitch Marner breakaway stopped by Scott Wedgewood. There was Brett Howden who nearly scored his fourth shorthanded goal of the postseason only to be denied. There was Pavel Dorofeyev, the NHL’s top playoff goal-scorer whose attempt in the slot was stopped by Wedgewood.

Colorado was a formidable 45-0 after leading following two periods. So history was on its side. But then Eichel delivered, beating Wedgewood to the stick side to tie it. A little over two minutes later, Eichel set up Barbashev and he went high to Wedgewood’s stick side to give Vegas the lead.

Barbashev sealed it with an empty net goal with 1:03 to go.

“I liked our game,” said Marner. “We knew we needed one to get back in it so we just stayed patient and played our game.

“We’ve been a great third-period team all year. We just had to trust our game.”

The Knights overcame three penalties, two to Shea Theodore, as the Avs were unable to cash in win its power play. The Knights were 0-for-4 on their power play in Game 2 but it didn’t matter in the end. And there was a scary moment in the first period when Brayden McNabb hurt his left leg and hobbled to the locker room. He would return in the third period and finish with 12:13 in time on ice.

Everyone expected the Avalanche to play better in Game 2 and it did. Colorado was more physical than it was in Game 1. It seemed more connected on the ice and perhaps it realized it will have to figure things out without Makar. At least in the short-term.

The Avs problem? Seventeen missed shots in Game 2. Nothing from Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas and Brock Nelson, who combined for just four shots on goal. And of the 30 Colorado managed to put on goal, Carter Hart stopped 29 of them. The only one to get by him was Ross Colton’s rebound try with 3:01 left in the first period.

Once again, he was the better goaltender when he needed to be and it’s a big reason Vegas is up in the series 2-0.

Looking ahead to Sunday, will we see Makar back in the Colorado lineup? Will Mark Stone see his first action of the conference final for Vegas?  We probably won’t know the answers to those questions until pregame warmups and the lineups have to be turned in. The fact Stone, who suffered a lower body injury in Game 3 vs. Anaheim and hasn’t played since has been skating is a positive sign for the Knights. Makar has been skating too but his upper body injury hasn’t sufficiently healed to where the Colorado medical staff will clear him for contact. So his return to the ice may be a bit more problematic.

But if the Avs have any hope of getting back into this series, it’s going to need its best players to deliver. That means getting offense out of MacKinnon, Necas and Nelson among others. Teams that dropped the first two games on home ice in the round before the Stanley Cup Final are 1-20 all-time, 0-13 since 1982. So Colorado will have to overcome history along with figuring out how to beat Hart more often.

The Knights? Stay patient, stay confident and keep playing their game. So far, it is a formula that has worked.