Junior goalie living the dream as Knights visit Canucks (Nov 16, 2017)
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Dylan Ferguson has no guarantee of playing, but he will probably remember Thursday's game against the Vancouver Canucks forever.
Ferguson is a 19-year-old goaltender on emergency call-up from junior ranks with the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights. He is living the dream in the NHL.
"It's a whirlwind," Ferguson told reporters Wednesday. "It's still really surreal. It's kind of sinking in a little bit, but I don't think it will ever sink in. I'll remember this the rest of my life."
He saw his first NHL action Tuesday night in Edmonton, stopping one of two shots in 9:14 of relief duty as the Golden Knights were blown out 8-2.
"I know what the NHL feels like now," he said. "It's a great experience. Not many kids in my league have that. It's another thing I'm grateful for."
Ferguson, a Vancouver native who grew up in Lantzville, B.C., got the call to join Vegas after the Knights ran into a series of injuries in net. He was in a restaurant with his Kamloops Blazers teammates Oct. 30 watching the Knights play the New York Islanders.
He saw Oscar Dansk, the Knights' third-string goaltender pressed into starting duty, go down with a leg injury and soon heard his phone ring.
"I was actually having all-meat wings, but I didn't get them because they were about five minutes away when I got the call," he said. "I just pretty much ran out, paid off the guys' dinner. That was that and I was on a flight two hours later.
"I was watching the game at Boston Pizza and the next thing I know I get a call from Vegas saying I'm going to New York. Pretty crazy."
Ferguson was drafted in the seventh round (194th) by Dallas this year, but the Stars quickly traded him to the Knights in package for veteran defenseman Marc Methot. The goaltender has a modest 4-9-0 record with Kamloops in the Western Hockey League this season.
"He's getting the chance to play in the NHL and that's huge for a 19-year-old kid who came in here with no expectations," Knights coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. "He's learning the pro game. He's traveling with pro players every day."
Ferguson, the fifth-string goaltender in the Vegas organization, is helping the Knights make up for the absences of No. 1 netminder Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), usual backup Malcolm Subban (lower-body injury) and Dansk.
Maxime Lagace has been serving as the Knights' starter lately, but Subban and Dansk are both considered close to returning, so the youngster's days in the NHL could be numbered.
"When I head back (to junior), it's just going to be more motivation to work that 10 percent harder so I can get back here."
Meanwhile, Canucks winger Jake Virtanen is also vowing to work harder after being a healthy scratch in a 3-2 comeback victory over the Kings in Los Angeles on Monday.
"These are the games you want to play as a physical guy and a bigger-body guy," Virtanen told Postmedia, lamenting his missed playing opportunity in Southern California earlier this week.
The Golden Knights (10-6-1) are looking for a better effort than the one in Edmonton as they visit the Canucks (9-7-2) for the first time in regular-season action. Virtanen, 20, has two goals and two assists this season. He is regarded as a prototypical power forward, and coach Travis Green wants him to start playing like one after he recorded few hits in recent games.
"(Hitting) is part of the game that Jake has to bring," Green told Postmedia. "He's a powerful skater and a big man and it's a fine line between finding hits and finding the puck."
But Virtanen, who played under Green in the minors last season, is confident that he can earn more playing time soon.
"I'm not worried about it," Virtanen said. "I had a great start to the season and he (Green) just wants more aggressiveness. On the back check, if I can finish guys, it gives our defense a little bit more time with the puck.
"I talked with him (Tuesday) and he said I practiced well (Monday)."
Green hasn't lost sight of the fact that becoming a power forward is hard. You have to skate well, hit hard and finish scoring chances. All of that is hard, but hitting shouldn't be for Virtanen.
"It's part of the game that Jake has to bring," Green said. "He's a powerful skater and a big man and it's a fine line between finding hits and finding the puck."
The Canucks want to continue to score on the power play after scoring twice in man-advantage situations Tuesday. Vancouver had gone 2-for-21 before using three revamped power-play units against the Kings.
"I think we always had chemistry," rookie Brock Boeser told Sportsnet. "We just set up different looks for certain guys."
The Knights, who earned their first win of any kind by downing Vancouver in the preseason, are looking for more consistency on the road. They are 3-5-1 in away games so far.
"You try and look at game segments and you know, in those game segments, we didn't do that great on the road," defenseman Nate Schmidt told the Las Vegas Review-Journal recently. "We've got to start a new chapter to this month because we set ourselves a little bit of a hole."
