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The Vegas Golden Knights are the first team to advance to the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 in Game 4. Vegas swept the series and they have only given up three goals total so far in the playoffs.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was the story of the first round for the Vegas Golden Knights. He went 4-0 with a .977 save percentage and a 0.65 GAA.
I thought heading into this series, the Los Angeles Kings were going to beat them in six games because I thought the Kings were more experienced and they have won two Stanley Cups recently. Goaltender Jonathan Quick had a good series for the Kings despite going 0-4. He had a 1.55 GAA and a .947 save percentage.
Is the reason why the Vegas Golden Knights are a good expansion team because they are that good or is it because they play in a weak western conference?
The Golden Knights finished the regular season with a 51-24-7 record with 109 points. Vegas was one of six teams in the west that finished with 100 points or more during the regular season. The east only had five teams that had 100 points or more during the regular season.
Vegas went 10-5-1 during the regular season against teams in the east who made it to the postseason. The Golden Knights only swept the season series with the Washington Capitals in the east. Vegas went 16-6-3 during the regular season against teams in the west who made it to the postseason.
The Golden Knights had a 64 percent winning percentage against those west teams and they had a 62 percent winning percentage against those east teams.
Even though Vegas played almost double the games in the west compared to the east, something convinces me that the east is way a tougher conference to play in than the west.
I think it is because the Golden Knights don't face as many quality superstars out west. Who are the top five superstars out west in the postseason? Defenseman P.K. Subban (NSH), Forward Patrik Laine (WPG), Forward Blake Wheeler (WPG), Anze Kopitar (LAK), and Forward Filip Forsberg (NSH). In reality, is there much after that?
Let's take a look at the east: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Phil Kessel (PIT), Alex Ovechkin (WSH), Taylor Hall (NJ), Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek (PHI), Artemi Panarin, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and Cam Atkinson (CBJ). Those are just some of the stars in the east, to begin with. There is a lot more to name.
The Los Angeles Kings were the first wild-card team in the west. The Columbus Blue Jackets are the first wild-card team in the east and they currently lead their series 2-1 against the Washington Capitals.
The Colorado Avalanche are the second wild-card team in the west and they trail the Nashville Predators 2-1 in the series. The New Jersey Devils are the second wild-card team in the east and they trail the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. The Devils (44-29-9) had a better record than the Avalanche (43-30-9) during the regular season.
Here's the final conclusion to this point: If the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks tonight, that will be the second sweep in the west this postseason. I get the impression the Winnipeg Jets will beat the Minnesota Wild on Friday Night and win this series in five games. It wouldn't surprise me if the Nashville Predators won this series in five games either.
There will be no sweeps in the east. I could see all series in the east go at least six games. One or two might go the distance but will see.
The Vegas Golden Knights get the benefit of the doubt playing in a weak conference even though they have some very good players like William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Alex Tuch, Nate Schmidt, and Marc-Andre Fleury. They would have a very difficult time playing any team in the east in a playoff series. Vegas would get banged around and would get star struck. If Vegas had to play a team like the Blue Jackets in the first round instead of the Kings, the Golden Knights would be trailing the series just like the Capitals are now.
