The Golden Knights look to stay hot heading into Saturday's game against the Vancouver Canucks
Golden Knights fans. The puck is set to drop at T-Mobile Arena tonight at 7:00 pm PT.
The Golden Knights (8-6-0) face the visiting Vancouver Canucks (5-7-2) in a Western Conference matchup that is set to be a good game. Vegas comes into the contest with injuries to three of its primary scorers in Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, and William Karlsson. Despite the adversity, the team has won seven of its past nine games after starting the season 1-4-0.
It also looks like Stone, the team’s captain, may return from injury tonight. He took line rushes alongside Chandler Stephenson and Evgenii Dadonov this morning. Stone will be a game-time decision, according to head coach Peter DeBoer.
Meanwhile, the Canucks come in only winning two of their last eight games. They look to shrug off a brutal 7-1 loss on the road to the Colorado Avalanche in their most recent outing. Despite having a talented young core featuring Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson, they continue to struggle with consistency.
Winning Streak
Things looked bleak during the first five games of the season for the Golden Knights, but they have turned it around quickly by playing solid team hockey. They are currently 3-2 against teams in their division, and are four points behind the Edmonton Oilers led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. In their last games against Minnesota, rookies Paul Cotter and Jonas Rondbjerg scored their first career NHL goals and were instrumental in the team’s 3-2 win.
Knights Goaltending
The Golden Knights goaltending was very strong against the Minnesota Wild, helping preserve the 3-2 win. Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves on 26 shot attempts and has played well in backup minutes for starter Robin Lehner. Lehner was supposed to start in the game, but didn’t because of unknown reasons.
Lehner is currently 6-5-0 on the season with a 2.72 goals-against average and has a save percentage of .919. He is having somewhat of a slow start this year and the COVID-19 shortened season last year can easily be blamed for that. But in sports, your stats and your performance are what they are, and no excuses can be made for that.
Meanwhile, Brossoit is 1-1-0 on the season through three games and has given up eight goals on 79 shots for an .899 save percentage.
Knights Leading Scorers
Vegas has been decimated by injuries to some key contributors, including their big three; Pacioretty, Stone, and Karlsson. Pacioretty has only played in two games, mustering three points before being out of the lineup. Additionally, Stone has scored three points in two games, while Karlsson has collected three points in just eight games played.
Obviously, it would be a massive boost if Stone could play tonight. At the very least, it appears his return is imminent. The team sorely misses his leadership and offensive tone-setting up front.
Luckily Vegas fans, a handful of other players have stepped up in this role. Stephenson, who is leading the team with 13 points in 14 games. He has a rating of plus-5 while on the ice. Also, Jonathan Marchessault leads the Knights with 7 goals, and is second on the team with 11 points in 14 games.
How to watch
To watch tonight’s game, stream it on your phone on the AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, or stream it on television on ESPN Plus, or Hulu at 7:00 pm PT.
This should be a great game, and hopefully, the Golden Knights will come out on top when it’s all said and done.
Let’s go Vegas!
