Deryk Engelland was holding the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, bestowed to the Western Conference champion of the NHL, meaning Vegas in its inaugural season has advanced to the Stanley Cup Final following a 2-1 victory against Winnipeg.
Ed Graney
Sports columnist
Email: egraney@reviewjournal.com
Phone: (702) 383-4618
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Ed Graney came to the Review-Journal in May of 2006 as its lead sports columnist. He has covered all major sporting events, including Super Bowls to NBA championships to every Final Four since 1995. Graney also covered the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) and London (2012). A graduate of San Diego State University, he is a five-time Nevada Sportswriter of the Year and past winner of Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 for columns. He and wife Bonnie have two children, a son (Tristan) and daughter (Bridget).
Vegas can close out the Western Conference Final with a win at Winnipeg on Sunday, and one reason the Golden Knights have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series is their capacity to counter opposing success.
The Golden Knights held off Winnipeg 3-2 in Game 4 of a best-of-seven Western Conference Final and are now one victory away from playing in the Stanley Cup Final.
A ruling by the Supreme Court this week caused the NCAA to act swiftly by removing its outdated blinders in regard to staging championship competition in states that offer sports gaming.
Vegas is two wins from the Stanley Cup Final after defeating Winnipeg 4-2 on Wednesday night in the Western Conference Final before an announced gathering of 18,477 at T-Mobile Arena.
If you’re searching for a sure thing, you would be pressed to discover one more certain than Gerard Gallant being named Coach of the Year, buoyed by the same traits that allowed Vegas its most important victory yet in these Stanley Cup playoffs.
The scene outside Bell MTS Place for Game 2 on Monday will assuredly equal or perhaps even upstage the four-block madhouse of a party that welcomed the hockey world Saturday, especially given Winnipeg beat Vegas 4-2 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference final series.
Vegas immediately fell behind and then chased all evening of a 4-2 defeat at Bell MTS Place in the opener of the Western Conference Final.
There is nothing make-believe about how Vegas landed in the Western Conference Finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs, where it opens a best-of-seven series at Winnipeg on Saturday.
The general manager, who directed the Washington Capitals for 17 years, has made the most of his first season in Vegas as the architect of an expansion team that has advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
History in no conceivable manner could have bestowed this truth on Vegas — having advanced Sunday night to the Western Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating San Jose 3-0 — without the play of a goaltender like Fleury.
The word chippy might be described as aggressively belligerent, but the Golden Knights don’t think their Western Conference semifinal series against San Jose has been anything out of the ordinary for this time of the season.
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant like to say he rolls out four lines indistinguishable of each other, but the Knights beat San Jose 5-3 on Friday night because the sort of secondary scoring that has been difficult to discover of late came through.
Vegas was outplayed Wednesday night like no other time in these playoffs, falling to the Sharks 4-0 before an announced sellout of 17,562 at the SAP Center, where San Jose evened this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece.
In winning yet another Stanley Cup playoff game Monday night, Vegas players again reminded those asking questions afterward of a certain incentive that has defined their expansion journey.