I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Coach Gallant or the players of the Vegas Golden Knights reference “puck luck” or blame a loss on “a few unlucky bounces”. And if you’re like me, you roll your eyes a bit, knowing that you don’t lose games because you had a “few unlucky bounces”, but rather because you didn’t play as well as you needed to. I’m not saying luck doesn’t play a role in hockey, it certainly does, but usually it’s not the most important thing. However last night’s game between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks proved that “puck luck” is no joke.
Vancouver fell to the Golden Knights 6 – 2. However, 5 of the 6 goals that were scored by the Knights could have been attributed to “puck luck”. Don’t get me wrong, the Golden Knights played a great game; they were making plays and positioning themselves in the right spots. But take a look at the video recaps below to see just how lucky those goals were.
Goal 1: the puck hits off the post and goes directly to Mark Stone, who is able to hit in in. Not the luckiest goal of the bunch, but still…
Goal 2: If you watch closely, you can see that the puck goes off Tuch’s visor into the net. Had it not hit him, it would have missed the goal completely.
Goal 3: the puck goes off a defending VAN player into the net. Again, this shot would have missed the goal otherwise.
Goal 4: Alright, this one isn’t straight luck, but Nosek had to reach his stick in front of the goalie and deflect it in. Considering how far away it was from his body and how difficult that was, I have to give luck a bit of credit.
Goal 6: the puck gets deflected off VAN player’s stick, breaks it, and then goes 5-hole into the net. Without that accidental deflection, it might have gone straight to the goalie’s pads.
Regardless of luck, the Knights deserved to win this game. Vancouver has been playing like they’ve already given up, and the Knights seemed to have finally found their stride. Tonight the Knights face off against the Calgary Flames in what’s sure to be a hard fought battle. Let’s hope the Knights have a little more luck left in them…