DALLAS, TX – OCTOBER 06: The Dallas Stars stand behind the Vegas Golden Knights on the ice during the National Anthem at American Airlines Center on October 6, 2017 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

It will take the city of Las Vegas time to recover after heinous and disgusting events of last Sunday night. But helping in that healing process is the debut of the city’s first professional sports team, the Vegas Golden Knights. On Friday night in Dallas, the the Golden Knights played their first game with emotions obviously running high.

After the Stars were introduced, they skated behind the Vegas blue line so that both sets of players could be together for remembering the victims of the tragedy. As a moment of silence was being held, the videoboard flashed a message that said “Viva Las Vegas” while public address announcer Jeff Kovarsky said, “Dallas stands with Vegas and those affected by the horrifying tragedy.”

It was certainly an emotional night for the Stars too. They honored the memory of their broadcaster Dave Strader — who passed away on Sunday at the age of 62 — and also honored the memory of a team staffer who died in a car accident during the season.

But once the game started, the Golden Knights made a little history, by winning the first game in team history 2-1, with James Neal scoring both goals. The Knights became the first expansion team to win their first game since the Senators in 1992 when they beat Montreal, and became only the fourth expansion team to win their first game on the road as well, and the first since 1977.

Neal had some poignant comments after the game as well:

On an emotional night for all, the Vegas Golden Knights honored their city in the best way possible, by making a little history and winning their first game in franchise history. Their home opener is Tuesday night against Arizona, in what is sure to be another emotional yet exciting occasion.

[ESPN]

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.