Golden Knights reward fans in Game 1 win against Kings

LAS VEGAS -- The clock counted down, and the volume cranked up.
"THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!"
The horn sounded, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday, winning their first Stanley Cup Playoff game and taking a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference First Round.

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As Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" blared from the speakers, the Golden Knights raised their sticks in salute.
"I was a little excited to see how much time was left, so now I knew when the crowd was yelling," goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury said, smiling. "It was a good thing. I think that's the loudest I've heard this building. It was rocking."
That's saying something. T-Mobile Arena was rocking all season.
But this was an introduction of playoff hockey to Vegas, intense, tight-checking, physical, and this was an introduction of Golden Knights playoff hockey to everyone else, like the regular season but up a notch or 10.
"I thought it was incredible," defenseman Nate Schmidt said, smiling. "There were times you couldn't even hear the guy standing next to you. Perfect. There's a reason why we play 82 games, to get to know each other. You don't need to talk to him anymore."

Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is at T-Mobile Arena on Friday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, PRIME).
"It's been like this the whole year long," forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "But now they somehow find, like, another few levels that they rise. It's unbelievable, and it's fun to play in front of the crowd."
It might seem like these fans haven't suffered, haven't felt frustration, haven't earned this.
The NHL made the expansion draft more favorable to Vegas than to previous expansion teams. The League has a salary cap now. The Golden Knights started strong and never looked back, shattering records for first-year teams and winning the Pacific Division. It's not supposed to happen this fast. You're supposed to have to pay your dues, right?
But these fans have suffered, have felt frustration, have earned this in their own way.
Las Vegas was a city with a major-league population of more than 2 million but no major-league professional sports team. It never had a big-league team to help give it an identity beyond the Strip, to unite natives and transplants behind the same logo. Lots of outsiders said this wouldn't work.
These fans badly wanted a team to call their own, and finally they have it, and it's winning and winning and winning and in the playoffs.
That's why fans lined up for free tattoos of Golden Knights logos in Toshiba Plaza outside T-Mobile Arena before the game -- lined up to have someone stick needles into their skin, inject ink and brand them as Golden Knights fans forever.

That's why 18,479, a Vegas record, packed the place in Golden Knights gear and waved white rally towels with the slogan "VEGAS BORN."
That's why the Golden Knights showed a video timeline -- including the NHL awarding the franchise to Las Vegas less than two years ago, the expansion draft less than a year ago, and highlights of this spectacular inaugural season -- and then a montage of the fans set to Patrick Stump's "This City."
"This city is my city …
"And I love it. Yeah, I love it …"
"I was born and raised here …"
"I got it made here …"
"And if I have my way, I'm gonna stay …
"Forever."
That's why the Golden Knights replayed comments from media questioning the very idea of putting an NHL team here and put "WELCOME TO IMPOSSIBLE" on the scoreboard and ice, firing up the fans even more before a Golden Knights helmet descended from the rafters and the players skated through it as a surprise.
"That's the time when you can let yourself be like a kid at Christmas and be like, 'Wow. This is sick,' " Bellemare said.
Defenseman Shea Theodore scored the Golden Knights' first playoff goal 3:23 into the first period, firing a shot from the point that deflected off Kings defenseman Christian Folin in front and skipped past goaltender Jonathan Quick.

That would be all they needed. The Kings failed to score on at least two great chances, forward Dustin Brown missing an open net from in close in the second period, center Anze Kopitar hitting the side of an open net in the third, and Fleury made 30 saves.
The Golden Knights joined the 1927 New York Rangers, 1968 St. Louis Blues and 1968 Kings as the only teams with a playoff shutout in their inaugural season. The Rangers and Blues also did it in their postseason debuts.
Does this send a message to the Kings?
"It sends a message to us," Gallant said. "It's another first for our organization. It's a big playoff game, and I love the way our team responded. We played hard. We played well. We weren't intimidated by nothing, so we just came out and played another hockey game.
"It's one big win in the series, but it's a great way to start for us."