The Vegas Golden Knights (14-5-4) take on the Vancouver Canucks (15-7-1) in a Pacific Divison matchup on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Rogers Arena.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: Vegas 34 (Scripps Sports)
Streaming: KnightTime+
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340
NOTES
Thursday's game is the first meeting of the season between Vegas and Vancouver.
Vegas is playing the third of a three-game road trip, looking for its first win. The Golden Knights opened the trip with a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames in overtime and fell to the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4, in the shootout on Tuesday.
VGK MILESTONE WATCH
Jack Eichel – one goal away from 50 as a Golden Knight
Alex Pietrangelo – two assists away from 100 as a Golden Knight
William Karlsson - four assists away from 200 as a Golden Knight
CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
Jack Eichel - one game away from 500 career games
Jonathan Marchessault - three goals away from 200 career goals
VGK SCORING LEADERS
William Karlsson – 21 points (10G, 11A)
Jack Eichel – 21 points (8G, 13A)
Mark Stone – 19 points (6G, 13A)
Shea Theodore – 18 points (4G, 14A)
Jonathan Marchessault – 14 points (9G, 5A)
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Knights were defeated by the Edmonton Oilers in a 5-4 shootout on Tuesday. Despite the Oilers scoring first, Vegas was able to pull even three times throughout the game to send it to a shootout. Goals from captain Mark Stone, Michael Amadio, Ben Hutton, and Keegan Kolesar made it 4-4. With Hutton's and Kolesar's scores, the Golden Knights now have 22 players who have found the back of the net, leading the league. A scoreless overtime period led to a shootout where Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored and the Golden Knights were unable to find the back of the net.
2022-23 SEASON SERIES
In three meetings during the 2022-23 season, the Golden Knights earned a 2-1-0 record against the Vancouver Canucks. Taking the first matchup on Nov. 21, 5-4, Mark Stone, Reilly Smith, Alex Pietrangelo, and two goals from William Carrier led Vegas to the comeback win on the road. The two clubs played again just five days later in Vegas as the Canucks evened the series record and defeated the Golden Knights in a 5-1 contest. Vancouver scored five straight to secure the victory. In March, the Golden Knights earned the last win of the season series as Phil Kessel, Smith, Teddy Bleuger, and Pavel Dorofeyev tallied goals for a 4-3 final.
OPPOSITION UPDATE
The Vancouver Canucks hold a 15-7-1 record, just one point back from the Golden Knights for first in the Pacfic Division, coming into Thursday's matchup. Starting the season off hot, the Canucks won 12 of their first 16 games, before going a little less than .500 in the last seven. Despite that, they are tied for second in the league in points (31) with the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Vancouver has three players above the 30-point mark in J.T. Miller (35), Quinn Hughes (33), and Elias Pettersson (30) and their power play ranks fourth in the league at 29.8%. Forward Brock Boeser leads them in PPG's with eight.
A VGK VICTORY WOULD...
-Mark the 282nd win in franchsie history
-Improve the Golden Knight's all-time recored agains the Canucks to 12-2-3
KEYS TO THE GAME
Return of the Depth: With Tuesday night's four-goal performance, three lines and one defensive pairing found their way onto the scoresheet. Headed into the second period down two, captain Mark Stone said that they "needed everybody to do a bit more." Both Ben Hutton and Keegan Kolesar scored their first goals of the season to help earn the point and add to the depth scoring in the third. The Golden Knights need to show that depth when they face the Canucks.
Grind it Out: The Golden Knights have been able to grind out a point in two of their last three losses. Vegas plays the full 60 minutes and sometimes more in order to keep the team at the top of the league and bank points. The grind needs to be there on Thursday when they take on Vancouver.
