Vegas Golden Knights Make NHL History with Playoff Sweep
Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2018 9:49 am
Vegas Golden Knights Make NHL History with Playoff Sweep vs. Kings
whoever did their expansion draft really put together a very good bunch ... players who are complimentary to each other ... a fun bunch to watchThe Vegas Golden Knights became the first NHL expansion franchise to sweep a playoff series in its debut season following a 1-0 victory to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at the Staples Center.
Arash Markazi of ESPN.com provided comments from Golden Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who recorded 31 saves for his second shutout of the series.
"You guys remind us or tell us about those records, but it's not something that we talk about or shoot for," Fleury said. "All season long, I didn't know any records about expansion teams. We just do what a regular team would. We just play the game and try to win. That's it."
The Golden Knights' immediate success was a shock. The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook listed the expansion team at 200-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup in August, double the next-highest teams, in its 2017-18 opening lines, per ESPN.com.
OddsShark notes Vegas is now the favorite to win the championship (+470) after it breezed past the Kings, who've won the Cup twice in the past seven years.
Dynamic center Jonathan Marchessault said the fact that the team was overlooked helped add motivation for its inaugural campaign and makes the moment special, per Markazi:
"It feels great. All of us, we came in with a chip on our shoulder, and we're just looking at the next game ahead of us. When we play right away, I think we can go far, but we cannot look too far right now. We've got to look at the next game and be able to cash in the rest that we're going to have here and be ready when the second round starts."
The Golden Knights advanced to face either the San Jose Sharks or Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference semifinals.