Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 | 11:29 a.m.
When the dads are in town, place your winning bets on the Vegas Golden Knights.
Wednesday’s road game against the Anaheim Ducks was the first day of the Golden Knights’ four-day Fathers Trip, an annual event put on by almost every team in the league.
This time, fancy dinners and whale watching were the excursions, but when game time rolled around, the Fathers Trip remained undefeated.
A 3-2 win over the Ducks bumped the Golden Knights Fathers Trip record to 10-0-1 all-time.
While it’s unlikely their presence is having a direct impact during the game, the undefeated record with dads in town is hard to ignore.
“It’s always fun,” Adin Hill said on the Fathers Trip. “The records kind of speak for themselves during Father’s Trip. It’s always nice when we can find a way to get the two points.”
Both Shea Theodore and Hill agreed it’s always nice to “have dads in town,” and having them around has allowed the Golden Knights to pick up wins.
Wednesday’s victory snapped a two-game skid and was only the Golden Knights’ second win on the road this season. After getting pulled in the second period in Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Hill said that he felt sharper in the net at Anaheim. He’d make 22 saves on 24 shots.
“They (Ducks) threw a lot of pucks at the net, and there were a lot of weird bounces, but it was a solid game,” Hill said.
After the game, the dads lined the Golden Knights tunnel to the locker room and gave them all high-fives to celebrate.
As Theodore was getting changed in the locker room, he looked up to the TV and saw his dad, Cam Theodore, giving a postgame interview on KnightTime+.
Shea finished with two assists on the night. On the first goal, he walked the puck deep into the zone before finding a wide-open Nicolas Roy to get Vegas on the board.
“As usual, he (Shea) kept the play going and fired it in. It’s a typical play of his,” Cam said. “(I really liked) his will to win. It’s Anaheim, so he always has a knife to stick in them when he can.”
Cam was so confident in Shea’s pass on the Roy goal that he said that he “could’ve tapped that one over.” However, Shea was a little doubtful about letting his dad on the ice.
“It’d be tough. We’d have to start with just a team practice,” Shea said. “He can hold his own in some regards, but I don’t think he’s got the foot speed.”
The Father’s Trip will extend for one more game to Utah on Friday as the Golden Knights continue to move past this road slump to start the year.
Back-to-back road wins would be huge for Vegas, specifically going into a home matchup with the Washington Capitals on Sunday, a team the Golden Knights have lost to this season.
There’s not just momentum with the Golden Knights on the road, but now positive energy with the dads.
“They’re (the dads) happy. Their team won, and they’re part of it,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “They’re trying to enjoy all four days here on the road and however long they’ll stay in Vegas…This is the bonding side that fathers and son can go through. That’s what they’ve earned, and I’m happy for them.”