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This could be us

The Vegas Golden Knights gave their fans a thrilling home opener, and gave Seattle fans something to look forward to with an approved arena.

Arizona Coyotes v Vegas Golden Knights Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

This could be us someday, but tonight it was Las Vegas, the city that already built an NHL arena. Are we close to getting that done in Seattle? Fingers crossed.

Hockey fans in the City of Lights finally saw their NHL dreams come true on Tuesday, as the Vegas Golden Knights, in their inaugural home opener, raced to a 4-0 lead midway through the first period, and never looked back. They went on to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 5-2, with a pair of goals from James Neal, and a goal each from Tomas Nosek, Deryk Engelland, and Tobias Rieder. Neal already has five goals for the season.

With the victory, the Golden Knights became the first expansion franchise in NHL history to open with a 3-0 record.

In addition to being a celebration of the arrival of Vegas’ first major sports franchise, the game also served as a small measure of healing to a city still recovering from the tragedy of a mass shooting the week before. The franchise put together an emotional pre-game tribute that included players escorting first responders to the ice during introductions.

A night of firsts at T-Mobile Arena

First pre-game celebration

First pre-game ceremony

#VEGASSTRONG

First goal

First chased goalie

First thanksgiving, Charlie Brown

First post-game salute

First post-game presser

Seattle hockey fans in the house

If you examine the following Tweet closely, you will see NHLtoSeattle founder John Barr and fellow Seattle hockey nut Paul Buxton representing their fair city in less than subtle Metropolitans’ sweaters.