Sharks At Golden Knights: 3 Keys To The Game

No time for an extended turkey nap here.
No sir.
The Golden Knights resume their schedule coming out of Thanksgiving with a special 3:00 start on Friday afternoon against the San Jose Sharks. On a day that the franchise is referring to as Gold Friday, nonetheless.
Scratch that.
The "first place" Golden Knights resume their schedule at 3:00 on Friday against the San Jose Sharks, a division rival hot on Vegas' heels.
The Golden Knights enter with a 13-6-1 record, while the Sharks are 11-8-1.
Friday's game can be seen at 7:30 PM (PT) 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. Wake Up Early
Hockey players are creature of habit.
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Wake up the same time, eat the same thing, nap the same way, put their equipment on in the same order.
So whenever something threatens to disrupt this pattern, it requires an adjustment. And with Friday's game coming at 3:00, the Golden Knights will have to be prepared.
"No change," forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "We have to follow the same routine."
This is all well and good to say. How it plays out is a different matter.
Being prepared to go a bit early will be extra important, considering only one Golden Knights game since October 30, one way or another, hasn't been won by the team that has scored first.

2. California Sweep
The Golden Knights enter Friday's game having won three straight, with each victory coming over a division rival.
The last two, Sunday vs. LA and Wednesday in Anaheim, came against close California rivals in Vegas' first-ever regular-season games against these foes. Friday's game is the Golden Knights' first game against the third California team, the San Jose Sharks.
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With an 8-1-0 record on home ice, the Golden Knights have won seven straight at T-Mobile Arena, and clearly are comfortable playing in front of the home crowd.
It should be noted that no expansion team has ever won eight games in a row at home. So a bit of history on the line here.
Not to mention, in a month where Vegas plays only four times at home, it's a valuable chance to pick up points in the standings.

3. Whose Style Dominates?
Despite not having a single scorer in the top 45 in the NHL in points, the Golden Knights lead the Western Conference with an average of 3.56 goals per game.
This is in contrast to the Sharks, who are the West's top defensive team, having only surrendered 45 goals in 20 games. San Jose's goalie, Martin Jones, has been a leading cause of this, sitting second in the league among starting goalies with a 2.03 goals-against average, as well as a .928 save percentage.
Against a team like the Sharks that hasn't scored much, yet checks hard and is a veteran squad that knows how to play defense, the question has to be asked if the Golden Knights can impose their will on this game? To do this, Vegas will want the game to be as fast as possible, as to skate past the Sharks the same way the Golden Knights' speed overhwhelmed the Kings and Ducks, two teams that play similar styles.
If Vegas can speed the game up, it has a good chance to win.
However, if the games gets slowed down, it plays right into the Sharks' hands.