High-scoring Vegas starts back-to-back set; Minnesota looking for first win in three games, tighter defense
ByJessi Pierce
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
GOLDEN KNIGHTS (15-7-1) at WILD (11-10-3) 8 p.m. ET; FS-N, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV
Vegas is 5-1-0 in its past six games after going 2-5-1 in the previous eight. The Golden Knights lead the Western Conference in scoring and are third in the NHL with 3.52 goals per game. The Wild have lost two straight games (0-2-0) after going 6-1-1 in the previous eight. They have allowed 30 goals in the past seven games and were outscored 13-5 in the past two losses (6-3 against the St. Louis Blues and 7-2 against the Jets).
Players to watch
Golden Knights forward William Karlsson has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in the past six games. He leads Vegas with 13 goals and 22 points. Wild forward Mikael Granlund has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past eight games.
They said it
"[Minnesota] is where I've been, this is all I knew until this year, and it's going to be really exciting to be back." -- Golden Knights forward Erik Haula on playing against the Wild, his former team "Inconsistency [is our problem]. We play horrible one night and the next night we can play really good, so I'm expecting us to be a good team tonight." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
Sbisa was activated from injured reserve and will be a game-time decision. He's missed seven games because of an upper-body injury. Perron and Carrier were placed on injured reserve, and each player is expected to be out for at least one week. … Prosser was claimed on waivers from the St. Louis Blues but will not play Thursday. Defenseman Kyle Quincey cleared waivers and was assigned to Iowa of the American Hockey League. Spurgeon is expected to miss at least the next two games because of a groin injury. Parise skated on his own for the second straight day. Thursday was the first time he was on the ice since having back surgery Oct. 24.
Stat pack
Marchessault has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past four games. Smith has six points (one goal, five assists) in the past six games. … Staal has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past eight games. Zucker has 13 points (10 goals, three assists) in the past 12 games.
