five games for the Red Wings in 2017-18.Cholowski was the most impressive of the rookies during the preseason. He averaged more

LAS VEGAS (AP) The bookies in this gambling city have to be getting a bit nervous.Hockey fans Youth Tyler Pitlick Jersey , though, are nothing short of ecstatic.They screamed, danced and cheered as the goals came one right after another in a first period blitz Thursday night as the Vegas Golden Knights remained undefeated in the playoffs by dominating the San Jose Sharks 7-0 in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.The hottest show on the Las Vegas Strip got even hotter as the Knights – who were 200-1 at many sports books to win the Stanley Cup before the season began – opened their second playoff series with a rout of the Sharks that was over before the Zambonis hit the ice.This had nothing to do with the so-called Vegas Flu that has overcome some visiting teams who might have not resisted some of the pleasures on the Las Vegas Strip. This was a simple beat down, by a group of players who had never been together on the ice before the season began.”It’s not going to be like this every night,” Knights goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. ”We’re going to enjoy this and move on.”Once again, the Knights played like no expansion team ever before. Once again, they showed that perhaps the fantasy of bringing the Stanley Cup to the Las Vegas Strip may not be such a fantasy after all.And once again, 18,444 fans sang ”Viva Las Vegas” and went home happy – but not before watching Fleury join them in doing the wave in the closing minutes.”It’s a great home crowd,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ”We like them a lot.”There’s a lot to like about a team that a year ago was nothing more than an expansion project with an uncertain future. Now the Knights are tearing through the playoffs like a hot dice thrower at the craps table.That might be a problem at the sports books, which are on the hook for possibly millions if the Knights should win it all. But it’s playing out nicely around the rest of Las Vegas, which is awash in Knights merchandise as the city that has never had a major sports team eagerly embraces one that is its very own.If getting to the playoffs was seen as almost impossible before the season began, the Knights are 5-1 in sports books on the Strip to win it all, just behind Nashville and Tampa Bay as favorites.With good reason. The Knights are the only remaining unbeaten team in the playoffs, and have the hottest goalie around. Fleury, picked up from Pittsburgh in the expansion draft, got his third shutout of the playoffs and has allowed only three goals in five games.He didn’t allow any against the Sharks, stopping 33 shots to record the shutout.”I don’t go looking at my stats Womens Tyler Seguin Jersey ,” Fleury said. ”A win is a win and I’ll try my best to get my team a win. That’s what it’s all about.”The team that proudly declares itself Vegas Born thrilled a raucous crowd at the T-Mobile arena, scoring three goals within a span of 1:31 in the first period to pretty much put the game away early.Against a team that – like the Knights – swept their opening series, they turned the game into a rout early. Seven players scored goals, though with Fleury in net there was no way seven would be needed.”You don’t get extra points for winning by a touchdown like they did,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. ”We just have to be better.”Earlier, Knights general manager George McPhee talked about how good the team he put together might be. But even he had to be surprised at the ease the Knights, coming off a nine-day layoff after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings, won their second-round opener.”We think we’re a pretty good club but we’ll keep trying to do what we do and see where it takes us,” McPhee said. ”We haven’t really looked at the season in its totality before it started, or the playoffs in its totality.”The formula for the Knights has been as simple as it has been effective. With some top talent there for the taking in the expansion draft the Knights combined a fast, swarming attack with stellar work of Fleury to win their division.Nothing changed in the opening game against the Sharks except the goals came early and often.”We play fast, we play quick, we play direct hockey,” Gallant said. ”So far it’s worked for us.”The Knights have done all of that, and more to move into the serious conversation about what teams can win the Stanley Cup.If any more proof was needed, even the bookies are believers now.—-Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg DETROIT — Controversy abounds for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they prepare to open the 2018-19 NHL season against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at Little Caesars Arena.There had already rampant speculation about the future of Columbus goaltender and two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky and left winger and 2017-18 team leading scorer Artemi Panarin. Both are in the final season of their contracts and failed to sign extensions during the summer.And on Wednesday, coach John Tortorella told Columbus radio station 97.1 The Fan that he will start backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo on Thursday night instead of Bobrovsky, who struggled during the preseason.Article continues below ...Tortella said Bobrovsky will play in the Blue Jackets’ home opener against Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night at Nationwide Arena. .Columbus http://www.coyotesproshop.com/authentic-oliver-ekman-larsson-jersey , which was eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, will also be without star defensemen Seth Jones, who will miss six to eight weeks because of a sprained MCL suffered during the preseason.But defenseman Zach Werenski returns from shoulder surgery, which he underwent on May 3.“I worked hard this summer, I’ve rehabbed it a long time and it’s finally coming together,” Werenski said on the team’s website.The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Ryan Murray off injured reserve and placed defenseman Scott Harrington on injured reserve on Wednesday.Detroit, which has missed the playoffs for the past two seasons, is injecting youth into what had been a veteran-laden roster. Five players could make their NHL debut on Thursday night.Defensemen Dennis Cholowski, 20 and Libor Sulak, 24; and forwards Michael Rasmussen, 19; and Christoffer Ehn, 22, will definitely be in the lineup against Columbus. Defenseman Filip Hronek, 20, could be called up from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League and play, depending on injuries to veteran defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson.Defenseman Joe Hicketts, 22, could also be called up. He played five games for the Red Wings in 2017-18.Cholowski was the most impressive of the rookies during the preseason. He averaged more than 20 minutes in six games http://www.bruinsshoponline.com/authentic-anders-bjork-jersey , including considerable power play and penalty kill time. Cholowski had two goals and four assists for six points and was plus-5.“I’ve liked him lots, I like his skill set, I like what he’s good at, we need what he’s good at it,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said on www.mlive.com about Cholowski. “Pro experience matters, but so does talent. So if he’s good enough and can make an impact, he should be here.”This is Cholowski’s first pro season after being Detroit’s first-round pick (20th overall) in 2016.Red Wings defenseman Mike Green will be out for more than a month, according to Blashill, as he recovers from a virus that attacked his liver during the preseason.With the retirement of captain Henrik Zetterberg because of a bad back at the beginning of training camp, Detroit named two more alternate captains on Wednesday. Center Dylan Larkin will wear an “A” during home games and center Frans Nielsen will be the third alternate captain for road games. They join Kronwall and left winger Justin Abdelkader as alternate captains.Larkin, 22, led Detroit with 63 points last season and signed five-year, $30.5 million extension during the offseason.“I think his basic leadership skills are on the ice,” Nielsen said about Larkin. “The way he brings it and the way he competes every night.”Larkin is expected to be the Red Wings’ next captain.