Golden Knights At Predators: 3 Keys To The Game

Into the fire they go.
Or snow, as it would be on this inclement morning in Nashville, where the Golden Knights face the Predators at Bridgestone Arena at 7:00 PM.
Deryk Engelland excited to stay in Vegas](https://www.nhl.com/goldenknights/news/deryk-engelland-excited-to-stay-in-vegas-for-another-season/c-294981630)
Into the fire more refers to this upcoming stretch for the Golden Knights, which begins this evening. The team's next four games will be on the road. Ten of the next 12 will be away from the cozy confines of T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden Knights play a consistent string of Stanley Cup contenders.
This begins with the 25-11-6 Predators tonight, and continues with the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. This stretch that will continue until February 8 also includes road games against the Winnipeg Jets, Washington Capitals and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
But as head coach Gerard Gallant says, "one game at a time."
Here are three keys to tonight's game.

1. Right The Power Play Woes
There is an elephant in the room here. And it's that the Golden Knights' power play has not been very goody lately.
Vegas went 0-for-6 on Saturday against Edmonton, and is now 0-for-10 dating back to the last game against Nashville on January 2 at T-Mobile Arena and 1-for-23 dating back to December 19.
If you ask the Golden Knights, they attribute some of the power-play rustiness to the six-day layoff following January 7's game against the Rangers. That when the team was off, it may have gotten out of its rhythm.
This is a fair point.
Although there are some tangible reasons - off-target passes, occasional hesitation and lack of puck support - that the power play has struggled that need to be improved, the layoff probably has something to do with this.
With three games in the next four nights and four in six, the Golden Knights have an opportunity to correct this. Overall, Vegas is 21st in the league at 17.5 percent on this power play this season.

2. Nashville Coming Off A Layoff
Just as the Golden Knights came off a six-day layoff on Saturday, the Predators will be playing for the first time in seven days tonight.
May some of the rustiness that hampered the Golden Knights impact the Predators this evening?
Well, entering tonight, teams coming off their bye weeks are 7-7-1 in their first games back. Take from that what you will.

3. Vegas Needs Deeper Contributions
Part of what made the Golden Knights so difficult to deal with early this season is the team's depth of scoring. As of late, this balance has leveled off a bit, as the team's top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith have been blazing hot.
But as they have been hot, the rest of the lineup hasn't.
The Golden Knights' top line has combined for six goals and seven assists over the past three games. The entire rest of the lineup has just two goals and two assists.
Getting some deeper contributions would speak volumes for the Golden Knights.