Golden Knights Roll Into Midseason Break With Win Over Rangers

LAS VEGAS, NV - The Vegas Golden Knights have been shattering expectations around hockey all season long, so it's only fitting that they are the first team in the Western Conference to reach 60 points. They got there last night beating the New York Rangers 2-1 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas Sunday night.

The Golden Knights are now 1-1 against the Rangers, who beat them in New York on Oct. 31 Vegas got the win after splitting a two-game road trip to St. Louis (2-1 loss) and Chicago (5-4 win) on Thursday and Friday. The Rangers saw a different team in Las Vegas than what they saw on Halloween night in New York.

"We're beating good hockey teams. Again tonight, we played a real good Ranger team," head coach Gerard Gallant said after the game. "We stayed patient, we found a way to score late in the hockey game and win a big game."

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (28 saves) kept the Golden Knights in it the entire game before William Karlsson broke a 1-1 tie with his 22nd goal of the season, putting Vegas on top 2-1 for what would be the final score.

Through 41 games, the Golden Knights have now reached the halfway point of their inaugural season and a better first half couldn't have been scripted. They're in sole possession of the top seed in the Western Conference at 29-10-2 and made believers out of a skeptical hockey town by posting an NHL best 18-2-1 home record.

The streaking Golden Knights are now off for the midseason break until a Saturday game against Edmonton in Las Vegas. Gallant said his team was looking forward to the time off despite having only lost three games since Dec. 1.

"We're ready for the week off. The guys are looking forward to it," Gallant said. "We're at the halfway mark tonight, the team's played really well so we just got to have a good break, get away from hockey for a while and come back on Friday and get back to practice and get ready for Saturday's game."

After just one half year of hockey, the accolades are already rolling in for the coaching job Gallant and his staff have done with an expansion team. Over the weekend he was named one of the four head coaches for the NHL All-Star game at the end of the month.

"It's a good honor. Obviously pretty excited about that, the coaching staff did a great job this year so far, but it all looks back to the players," he said, deflecting the praise towards the team as a whole.

"It's a nice thing for the organization, for sure," Gallant said.

Image via John Locher/Associated Press