The Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks will square off once again as the two clubs meet for a rematch tonight at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights delivered a 3-2 overtime win in Sunday’s game after blowing a 2-0 lead in the third period.
Robin Lehner made his first start in nearly a month, finishing the game with 26 saves on 28 shots. Logan Thompson had started eight in a row, winning six.
The Canucks likely will turn to starting netminder Thatcher Demko again tonight; he currently sits at 28-20-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average, .916 save percentage and one shutout.
J.T. Miller broke through 1:42 into the second period, picking up point No. 82 on the year; he leads both teams across the board with 29 goals, 53 assists and 82 points in 68 contests.
Jonathan Marchessault, who leads Vegas in goals with 28, recorded a goal and an assist in Sunday’s win, including setting up the game-winning goal by Shea Theodore 2:05 into extra time.
Alex Pietrangelo also scored for Vegas; he and Theodore lead all defensemen in tonight’s matchup with 13 and 11 goals, respectively.
Tonight’s contest is the second of three April meetings between the Golden Knights and Canucks. Vegas has yet to lose to Vancouver in regulation in the regular season; in fact, the Golden Knights hold an all-time record of 10-0-2 against their division rival.
The Golden Knights are still in must-win mode as they desperately fight to remain in the playoff hunt down the stretch. With just 11 games remaining, they can’t afford to leave points on the table.
The Seattle Kraken paid Vegas a huge favor by defeating the Stars 4-1 Sunday evening, helping the Golden Knights make up some much-needed ground in the race.
Due to the Stars’ 3-2 win against the Islanders last night, the Golden Knights currently sit one point behind Dallas for the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference; however, the Stars have just two games in hand.
The Canucks will be desperate to keep their playoff hopes alive tonight as well, so the Golden Knights can’t afford any unforced errors. That includes scoring on themselves, as Alec Martinez did on Sunday.
Bo Horvat was credited with that goal despite never touching the puck and losing the faceoff, but he had a very dangerous opportunity at the start of overtime and is always a threat when he’s on the ice.
He may have new linemates tonight, as the Canucks shuffled their lines in yesterday’s practice. Jason Dickinson and Conor Garland skated with Horvat, while Miller was accompanied by Tanner Pearson (as usual) as well as Elias Pettersson.
Vegas was fortunate to come away with two points in Sunday’s game; the Golden Knights need to do more to secure their own fate tonight in Sin City.
This will be the first of five remaining home games in the 2021-22 regular season for the Golden Knights; they take on the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday before heading out on the road for a three-game swing against the Canucks, Flames and Oilers.
Projected lineups
Vegas
Chandler Stephenson — Jack Eichel — Evgenii Dadonov
Marchessault — William Karlsson — Michael Amadio
Mattias Janmark — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Jonas Rondbjerg — Jake Leschyshyn
Brayden McNabb — Theodore
Ben Hutton — Pietrangelo
Martinez — Zach Whitecloud
Dylan Coghlan
Lehner
Thompson
Vancouver
Pearson — Miller — Pettersson
Dickinson — Horvat — Garland
Vasily Podkolzin — Juho Lammikko — Alex Chiasson
Nic Petan — Brad Richardson — William Lockwood
Oliver Ekman-Larsson — Luke Schenn
Travis Dermott — Tyler Myers
Brad Hunt — Kyle Burroughs
Demko
Jaroslav Halak
How to watch
Time: 7 p.m.
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM