This is the finale of a four-game season series between the Ducks and Golden Knights, which has seen Vegas take the first three with wins on Oct. 20 (3-1), Nov. 14 (5-0) and Jan. 4 (3-2). The Ducks own an all-time record of 1-5-1 vs. the Golden Knights, with Rickard Rakell (1g/2a) leading current Ducks in career scoring against their Pacific Division rivals.
A few milestones are within reach tonight, as Jakob Silfverberg needs just one goal to reach 100 as a Duck, and Cam Fowler needs one goal to pass Francois Beauchemin (56) for sole possession of second on the all-time franchise goals list for defenseman. Fowler's next game-winning goal will also place him in a tie with Scott Niedermayer (13) for the all-time franchise lead among defensemen, while Hampus Lindholm's next GWG will tie Oleg Tverdovsky (9) for fifth on the all-time franchise list for blueliners. It won't happen tonight, but Ryan Kesler is just three games shy of 1,000 in his NHL career.
The Ducks could see John Gibson holding down the crease sooner than later, as yesterday he practiced with the club in full. Gibson hasn't played since he suffered a concussion on Feb. 7 in Ottawa. He also had
four wisdom teeth extracted last week
. If he doesn't suit up tonight, expect the Ryan Miller-Kevin Boyle tandem in goal.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 6-5 shootout victory last night over the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena, their second consecutive victory after three straight losses. Vegas currently sits in third place in the division with 73 points, nine back of second-place San Jose and five ahead of Arizona.
Vegas went big-game hunting at the trade deadline, acquiring right wing Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Oscar Lindberg, Erik Brannstrom and a 2020 second-round draft pick. At the time of the trade, Stone already had a career-best 28 goals. Stone is two points shy of tying his career high in points (64) set in 2014-15, and has scored 20 goals or more in five consecutive seasons.
Jonathan Marchessault leads the club in points (44) and co-leads in goals with Max Pacioretty (20). Alex Tuch ranks second in points (43) and leads the Golden Knights in assists (27). After getting the night off yesterday, Marc-Andre Fleury likely gets the start tonight in Anaheim. Fleury leads the league in games played and starts (54), and co-leads in wins (30) and shutouts (6). In 16 career appearances against the Ducks, Fleury sports a 12-4-0 record, 2.07 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.
