Vegas Has Been Having Golden Nights in Vegas
If Oskar Dansk looked slightly shellshocked in that photo, it's not because he's been bombarded with NHL pucks.
It might not even be the bright lights of the Las Vegas strip.
Dansk may simply be coping with the reality that he's actually in Las Vegas. As a Golden Knight.
That's because dude's the third man up.
So far, so good.
The 23-year-old Swede got his first win between the pipes when he entered a game in the third period and backstopped this pack of NHL newbies to a surprise 3-2 victory over St Louis in overtime.
The goalie being helped off the ice was Malcolm Subban, PK's younger bro and the Boston Bruins' first-round pick in 2012.
He was out there because starting goalie Marc-André Fleury took a knee to the head in the Detroit Red Wings game and allowed four goals before the light went on that dude might have a concussion.
Yes, this is the 21st century, and yes, rumor has it the Knights' bench staff has been alerted to stuff like protocol.
Goalie injuries are about all that's gone wrong for the Golden Knights during this seven-game homestand. They're 4-1 so far, with their only loss being to the Red Wings.
It's still early days, but the fact that Vegas is holding down second place in the Pacific Division is almost as surprising as the Vancouver Canucks being in third:
Dansk gets the Chicago Blackhawks tomorrow night and Colorado on Fri 27 Oct before he gets a taste of road hockey in the NHL.
The Knights are banking on their blueliners holding as steady as they've been so far. Their penalty kill (86.2%) has been virtually flawless, and they've kept their own trips to the sin bin to a minimum.
As would be expected of an expansion team experiencing success, the Knights are also keeping games close. Three of their victories have been in overime.
Whether they can maintain that sorta fortune remains to be seen.
Something else to watch is the turnstile count. The Knights' arena seats 17,500 -- the minimum capacity required by the league -- and to date, they're squeezing in 17,780.
That doesn't bode well for this dude or the bear if they follow the Blue Jackets to town:
So far, word is most of the fans in attendance are locals. That's an amazing stat in itself.
After all, this is a city that features three work shifts per day.
Maybe that'll make them appreciate Oskar Dansk even more.