Sports: How well have the Golden Knights been playing?

2They’ve been comeback kids. During the regular season, the Golden Knights overcame a two-goal defi cit to win only twice, and they had never done it in the playoffs prior to this month. But this year through the round robin and the fi rst round against Chicago, the Golden Knights have already done it three times. What’s especially impressive: the teams against which the fi rst two of those comebacks occurred. In the round robin, the Golden Knights fell behind 3-1 in the third period to Dallas and 2-0 in the second to St. Louis. The Stars and Blues were among the NHL’s best in the regular season, in terms of both overall record and in closing out leads. Overall, the Golden Knights have outscored their opponents 15-5 in the third period and overtime this postseason, a key trait as the playoffs roll on. 3 Their stars are shining bright. Coach Peter DeBoer said it best: This time of year, a team’s best players need to be its best players. The Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP rarely goes to depth players, so for a team to make a Cup run, it typically needs its stars to play at their highest level. And that’s been the case for the Golden Knights so far through 10 postseason games.

Mark Stone, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore are all averaging a pointper-game or better during the season’s restart, and Alex Tuch and Jonathan Marchessault are two points back of that pace. Stone, in particular, has elevated his game when the stakes are highest. Including last year’s playoffs, Stone has racked up 22 points in 17 VGK playoff games, a per-game pace higher than anyone else with the Golden Knights.

Smith has also been a constant. With 38 points in 37 playoff games as a Golden Knight, he’s the only other player to exceed a point per game. Stone, Smith and the rest of the Vegas stars have continued to excel when the games matter most.

4They’ve showed off their depth. Every team goes through injuries this time of year, but the Golden Knights this time of year, but the Golden Knights haven’t skipped a beat when they’ve haven’t skipped a beat when they’ve lost key players. Max Pacioretty and lost key players. Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny have missed a combined Paul Stastny have missed a combined six games this postseason, and they’ve six games this postseason, and they’ve combined to score just seven points in combined to score just seven points in the 14 games they’ve played. Yet it hasn’t the 14 games they’ve played. Yet it hasn’t really mattered.

When Stastny went down, Patrick When Stastny went down, Patrick Brown fi lled in on the fourth line and fi lled in on the fourth line and scored a goal. Chandler Stephenson scored a goal. Chandler Stephenson has been all over the lineup, has been all over the lineup, from third-line center from third-line center to fi rst-line wing to to fi rst-line wing to fi rst-line center to fi rst-line center to fourth-line center.fourth-line center.

And as the stars And as the stars do their thing at the do their thing at the top of the lineup, so top of the lineup, so do the players near do the players near the bottom. In the Chicago series, the third Chicago series, the third line of Nick Cousins, Nicolas line of Nick Cousins, Nicolas Roy and Alex Tuch was superb. William Roy and Alex Tuch was superb. William Carrier entered the playoffs without a Carrier entered the playoffs without a postseason point and already has two postseason point and already has two game-winning goals.game-winning goals.

Patrick Brown

(Chris Carlson/AP)

NEGATIVES

1The power play. This was the Golden Knights’ biggest issue … until the series fi nale against Chicago. In that game, defenseman Alec Martinez scored to tie the game 3-3 before Vegas went on to win, but it was the team’s fi rst goal in 10 power-play tries in the series.

The good news is that appears to be less of a systemic issue than a small sample-size one. In the three round-robin games, Vegas went 3-for-12 on the power play, a terrifi c 33% that, for context, would have led the NHL during the regular season. The Golden Knights are 2-for-7 (28.6%) in two games against Vancouver. Factoring in all 10 postseason games, Vegas has gone 6-for-28 (21.4%), which ranks among the upper half of the playoff teams thus far. Still, against a porous defense like the Blackhawks’, Vegas would have liked more from its power play. It has improved so far in the second round. 2 Finishing chances. The Golden Knights were a far better team than the Blackhawks, yet three of Vegas’ four wins came by just one goal. All the stats from the positives side of this story should seemingly have added up to a Golden Knights’ rout. And while a series that ends in fi ve games can be considered a pretty good beatdown, it could have been more lopsided, game by game. Part of that was Corey Crawford. Chicago’s goalie was excellent and kept Vegas from fi lling the net with pucks, particularly in the Blackhawks’ lone win. He was the biggest reason Vegas’ differential between actual goals (15) and expected goals (17.44) was negative, and in Game 4 he held the Golden Knights to one goal, compared to 3.71 expected.

Still, as with the power play, Vegas’ fi nishing issues were limited to the Chicago series. In the round robin, the Golden Knights were the NHL’s most potent offensive team, and thus far they’ve looked very capable of making a deep run.

they wanted to get fixed or tuned up,” says Jimmy Martinez, general manager of Bike World, a longtime Vegas bicycle retailer with two Valley locations. “There were so many bikes sold here in the Valley. Walmart was out, Target was out. Either people will continue to ride, or there will be a lot of bikes for sale online at some point.” At Pro Cyclery at Village Square, April, May and June were three of the most profitable months the The pandemic has been a business has ever had, says Mike and Cheri Tillman, who have owned the shop for nearly a decade. That’s upside-down from what happens in Las Vegas boon to the bicycle industry during a normal year, when the summer months are typically slower for bike shops due to the unrelenting desert heat. “It’s not just Las Vegas and it’s not just the U.S.,” Cheri Tillman says. “For the bike business, the BY BRYAN HORWATH I n the early days of the pandemic in Southern Nevada, people were rushing to stores to buy things like toilet paper, canned foods and household cleaning supplies. That type of panic-buying—which led to long lines, empty shelves and senior-speMay 17, two months to the day after Sisolak ordered nonessential businesses to close. Winter says one type of bicycle growing in popularity is of the electric—or e-bike—variety. Those hybrid bikes have built-in electric batteries that can assist aw rider. The electric assist, though, only comes when a rider is pedaling, which can make a pandemic has been great. We were doing curbside business for six weeks right after the governor’s announcement in March, and there were always, I’d say, eight to 12 people waiting outside.” An avid bicyclist, Henderson city engineer Scott Jarvis often rides on the many miles of trails Henderson has to offer. He says he has noticed how cific shopping hours—eventually gave way to other rider’s legs feel supercharged when riding up hills many newcomers have been drawn to the sport changes in consumer purchasing habits, including or at certain intervals on long treks. lately. one centered on recreation. It’s not just new bikes that people have been in“We’ve seen an incredible increase in not only

“Bikes became the new toilet paper,” says Heather terested in. Winter and other shop owners say many cycling, but in all forms of active exercise,” Jarvis Fisher, president of Las Vegas Cyclery, a bike shop people have been busy reviving bicycles they may says. “With cycling, it’s very noticeable. We have in Summerlin she owns with her husband, Jared have had for years but that have been out of sight about 180 miles of trail [in Henderson], and you Fisher. “It’s been a nationwide phenomenon. We’ve and out of mind. would always see people out. But during the panseen that it’s been mostly entry-level interest, which “When we ran out of bikes, people started bringdemic, I’d say the number of people has doubled or is really encouraging, because that means more peoing in bikes from their garage or their backyard that even tripled.” ple are getting into the sport. The sport is attracting people who don’t want to go to gyms or do activities with lots of people.”

Across the Las Vegas Valley, bicycle shop owners and operators are saying they can’t keep enough product to keep up with demand. From actual bikes to parts and most everything in between, manufacturers around the United States and beyond echo the sentiment.

Because of the transportation side of the bicycle business, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak never ordered bike shops to close when he directed nonessential businesses—casinos among them—to shutter in mid-March.

Barry Winter, co-owner of two Giant Las Vegas bike shops, says that helped the industry, but that it was more of a grassroots movement that took hold in the early days of the pandemic.

“People realized the gyms were closing, and they needed an alternative,” Winter says. “We saw a lot of families, too. You can only go on so many walks and hikes with your family. People started buying bikes at a brisk pace. The bike manufacturers sold 10 months of supply in eight to 10 weeks. That’s why there’s been such a shortage.”

Winter says his Giant shops ran out of bikes on Cheri Tillman, owner of Pro Cyclery, with her dog Penny (Wade Vandervort/Staff)