Coyotes At Golden Knights: 3 Keys To The Game

The Golden Knights have a huge opportunity to get back into the win column.
Coming off a 7-4 loss in Winnipeg - and three straight defeats overall - Vegas returns home on Sunday to face that Arizona Coyotes. To a place where the Golden Knights are a staggering 9-2-0 at home, against a last-place Coyotes team that Vegas has already defeated three consecutive times.
Today's game is at 5:00 PM. It can be seen on AT&T SportsNet.
This is Cox channels 313 (SD) and 1313 (HD), DIRECTV channel 684, U-verse channels 757 (SD) and 1757 (HD), and CenturyLink channels 760 (SD) and 1760 (HD).
Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy will have all the action.
Dan D'Uva will be calling the game on FOX Sports Radio. This is 98.9 FM and 1340 AM.
Here are three keys to today's game.

1. Coyotes Dangerous
Today has all the elements of being a game the Golden Knights should win. It also has all of the elements of being a trap game, set up as a trap for Vegas.
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Last night, the Coyotes demolished the New Jersey Devils 5-0 at Gila River Arena. The very same New Jersey Devils which entered the game with 34 points - three more than the Golden Knights.
Arizona has gone 5-3-1 in its last nine games, including November 24's loss to Vegas. Although it should be noted that in that game, the Coyotes outplayed the Golden Knights for most of the game, with three Vegas goals 1:42 apart salvaging what otherwise could've been an Arizona win.
The inclination is to look at the last place Coyotes and consider them ripe for the picking. That is largely influenced by Arizona tying an NHL record by losing its first 11 games.
They are 7-8-3 since then. The Golden Knights are 9-8-1 during that same stretch.

2. Power Play Turnaround
It seems simple.
As the Golden Knights have lost their last three games, they've only scored six goals. In the previous three games, all Vegas wins, the Golden Knights scored 13 goals.
More goals, more wins.
Simple enough, right?
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But how does a team score more goals? For the Golden Knights, improving their power play might be a good place to start.
Vegas is 0-for-10 on the power play in its past three games. It scored a combined four power-play goals in the previous three games.
"Just have to keep pounding the puck to the net," center William Karlssons said. "Just simple as that. Don't have to make it too complicated."
The Golden Knights' offense would've barely missed a beat had its power play been able to continue at the same rate over the past few games. Capitalizing on those opportunities will be extra vital for this team, as its lost three straight games and could use some extra confidence to send the team on its way.

3. Deeper Contributions
The Golden Knights' line of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault has been on fire for a while now.
William Karlsson, the team's leading scorer, had 10 goals in his last 10 games. Marchessault has 13 points (5G, 8A) in his last eight games. Even Reilly Smith, who sometimes flies under the radar, has points in six of his last eight games.
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And this is all great. Since the conclusion of the team's six-game road trip to the east coast last month, this line has failed to score in only two Golden Knights games. One of those two games was Tuesday's shutout loss to the Stars, so nobody scored.
But therein lies the issue.
This has been a team built to get contributions from throughout the lineup. And as unbelievable as this line has been, the other lines have slowed a bit, especially in the absence of David Perron since November 24.
How much the Golden Knights can get from their other lines could dictate which direction this game turns in.