LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Another team bites the dust as the Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Knights are now set to take on the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals, which kick off on Friday.
KTNV sports reporter Tina Nguyen spoke to analyst Gary Lawless with more on what fans can expect heading into the highly-anticipated matchup.
The full interview is transcribed here:
Tina Nguyen: Well, the Vegas Golden Knights continue their quest for the Stanley Cup as they now prepare to take on former head coach Pete DeBoer and the Dallas Stars. Gary, first off, what did it take for the Golden Knights to get to this point?
Gary Lawless: A lot of hard work. The team was really good in the first round. They really got to their four-line game, used a lot of people, Hill stepped in and did an excellent job for the team. And if you look at the scoring, Jack Eichel is sixth in playoff scoring across the league. There's only two guys left, Roope Hintz from Dallas and Matthew Tkachuk from Florida, they're the only guys ahead of him. So Jack's in the Conn Smythe conversation right now. Mark Stone's been excellent. The defense, all six guys — or seven, because Ben Hutton played a game — they were really good in that series against Edmonton. Vegas has done what everyone in the league wanted them to do and got rid of the two best offensive players in McDavid and Dreiseitl. This series will be a lot more of four lines versus four lines.
Nguyen: This will be [VGK's] fourth Western Conference final appearance in six seasons. How rare is that for a franchise and what does that say to the work that Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee have done?
Lawless: Well, it's incredibly rare. Only two teams in the modern era have had kind of runs like that, the Tampa Bay Lightning — and they won two Stanley Cups — and the Chicago Blackhawks — they won three. Since Vegas entered the National Hockey League, only Tampa has won more playoff rounds than them. Vegas has now won nine, and Vegas has won 46 games as well — 47 games now. Only Tampa has won more playoff games than them and all of this done with ... The highest draft pick ever was Cody Glass and they got him at sixth. Dreiseitl and McDavid were number ones. That's how most teams do it.
Vegas has never had the luxury of a top three pick. But Kelly McCrimmon went out and made a trade for Mark Stone, made a trade for Jack Eichel, signed Pietrangelo in free agency, traded for Martinez. On and on and on. McCrimmon and McPhee have to be considered among the very best management duos in the National Hockey League, and it's not just them. They'll quickly point out Vaughn Carpenter, director of player personnel, and all of their pro scouts, Bobby Lowes and all of his amateur scouts. It's a real team effort. Listen. We're going to the Final Four for the fourth time in six years. Holy moly. Some expansion teams don't get to the playoffs until this time. The Toronto Maple Leafs are talking about resigning their general manager. He's won one playoff round in the last five years. These guys have won nine and six and they missed the playoffs last year due to historic injuries. I know I count my blessings every day that I work for an organization that has those two guys.
Nguyen: Now, this will be the third time that Vegas will be taking on former head coach Pete DeBoer in the playoffs, as they faced him when he was with the San Jose Sharks and, of course, now with the Dallas Stars. What do you think we can expect from this matchup?
Lawless: Pete's a great coach. That team is deep, has a really good goalie in in Jake Oettinger. Their power play can get going. Of course, they have Joe Pavelski, who was with Pete when he was in San Jose. I think this is going to be a really good series and I expect it to be a long one.
Nguyen: Overall, what do you think will be the X factor for Vegas in the series?
Lawless: Interesting question. I still think it's depth. I still think the fact that Mark Stone hasn't had a goal in a couple of games but all of a sudden, Marchessault is hot. Eichel keeps going. Reilly Smith is chipping in now. Not as much scoring from the fourth line as maybe you'd like, but Nic Roy has moved up. I think at some point in time, Will Carrier is going to catch fire a little bit. The fact that that balance and the fact that they can come from anywhere. The blue line hasn't really scored a lot of goals yet, either. We know that Theodore and Pietrangelo can really contribute in that way, as well, so we'll keep an eye on that depth.
Nguyen: Lastly, Gary, there are former players and coaches on both sides here. What kind of role do you think maybe emotions play in a matchup like this, especially in the playoffs?
Lawless: What's on the line here is a chance to go to the Stanley Cup. That's the motivation. I think everything else is fun for you and I to talk about, but if you ask any of those guys why they want to win this series, the answer is to go to the Stanley Cup.
