Hours before making his Vegas debut, Alec Martinez sat on the team bench, gazing onto a clean sheet of ice while collecting his thoughts inside an empty T-Mobile Arena, a place he called the loudest venue in the NHL.
The crowd of 18,376 roared when he was announced in the starting lineup.
"It's obvious I was pretty emotional at the beginning there, feeding off the fans," the veteran defenseman said. "I had to tell myself to settle down a little bit."
Martinez settled in nicely with a goal and an assist, and the Golden Knights stopped Tampa Bay's 11-game win streak with a 5-3 victory over the Lightning on Thursday night.
