Busted skate doesn’t deter Golden Knights’ Alex Tuch
It’s called “blowing a tire” when a player loses an edge on his skate and wipes out.
But what happened to Golden Knights forward Alex Tuch late in the first period Wednesday during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn’t a blown tire. The entire wheel came off.
Actually, Tuch’s blade on his left skate dislodged itself from its plastic holder after he collided with Kings defenseman Drew Doughty with 1:08 left. Tuch was on the opposite side of the ice from the bench and had to crawl his way back.
“It was a little surprising, but I tried to hustle to get off the ice,” Tuch said. “I stayed on my left knee and tried to push across. Erik Haula gave me a little push.”
Tuch said his teammates didn’t give him a bad time over the skate malfunction.
“The guys liked the hustle,” he said. “We were all laughing about it.”
Jon Merrill playing fetch with his dog Alex Tuch. pic.twitter.com/gUz1OejfQ1
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) April 12, 2018
Perron’s status unclear
The Knights held an optional skate Thursday, and David Perron was among the six who participated.
Perron, who did not play in Game 1 and last played March 26, has been out with an upper-body injury. His status for Game 2 Friday is unclear.
Helmet entrance
Players had a new wrinkle entering the ice surface at T-Mobile Arena, skating through an opening in a giant knight’s helmet.
“It was pretty cool,” goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said. “I just had to be careful not to hit anything.”
— David Schoen ??? (@DavidSchoenLVRJ) April 12, 2018
Forward Ryan Carpenter, who experienced such entrances playing in San Jose when the team came onto the ice through a shark’s mouth, liked it.
“I think it added to the excitement and the atmosphere,” Carpenter said.
Help for Humboldt
Coach Gerard Gallant wore a Knights jersey with the name “BRONCOS” on the back to his daily press briefing at City National Arena in support of the Humboldt Broncos junior team that was involved in a bus accident a week ago.
Coach Gallant wore a VGK @HumboldtBroncos jersey for his press conference today
We’re with you ??#JerseysForHumbolt pic.twitter.com/aBzDTvmmjB
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) April 12, 2018
Sixteen people died and 13 others were injured when the team’s bus collided with a transport truck en route to a playoff game in Saskatchewan.
Wednesday, the Knight’s 51/49 raffle generated $100,640. Of that amount, 49 percent was earmarked for the NHL Foundation to go the victims’ families.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Contact @stevecarprj on Twitter.
