The Vegas Golden Knights (3-2-1) will open up a four-game homestand with a matchup against the Los Angeles Kings (3-1-2) on Tuesday night. It is set to be the final bout on the NHL’s 16-game “Frozen Frenzy” slate, with a late puck drop of 8 p.m. PT.
This will be the first meeting between these clubs this season.
The Kings enter tonight’s matchup with wins in back-to-back games, including 4-1 victories against Montreal and Anaheim. The Golden Knights, meanwhile, have lost three straight, though they were able to get a point in Florida to salvage an otherwise pointless 0-2-1 road swing.
Vegas is 3-0-0 on home ice this season.
The Golden Knights got some good news yesterday, as William Karlsson was back on the ice — albeit in a red non-contact sweater — for the first time since Sept. 21. He has been ruled out for tonight’s game but could return later this week; Victor Olofsson remains out and is considered week-to-week.
The Golden Knights were 2-1-0 in last year’s season series against the Kings and are 17-12-3 in the all-time regular-season matchup.
Los Angeles is in second place in the Pacific Division with eight points; Vegas is right behind with seven through six games.
Not surprisingly, Anze Kopitar leads the Kings in scoring, with three goals and eight points in six games. Adrian Kempe is second with six points, while Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere each have five.
The Golden Knights will change up the defense pairs for tonight’s game, reuniting Shea Theodore with Brayden McNabb and Zach Whitecloud with Nicolas Hague, leaving Noah Hanifin to play with Alex Pietrangelo.
“It happens,” Hanifin said about the shuffling on the back end. “It’s a long season, and sometimes when you lose a couple games in a row, there’s something to look at. And I think for us, we have a pretty veteran D corps back there, so I think we all know we can take it up a notch. And if we play a little bit better, it’ll help our team win games. … We’re all a unit back here, so we like it.”
Hanifin explained that part of the impetus for changing things up was the fact that Vegas was “losing some habits” on the road trip. “But it’s up to us individually, and we all gotta play better, obviously. We just lost three games in a row. I think everybody has to play better.”
The Golden Knights’ defense has not lived up to expectations thus far, which head coach Bruce Cassidy acknowledged.
“I’d say, in a nutshell, I don’t think we’ve been good enough [on defense],” he said after practice on Monday. “Is it the pairs, is it the forwards not helping? Listen, it’s not just six players, but some of the stuff I’ve seen, I think changing the pairs might get some guys going.”
Vegas has given up an average of 3.33 goals per game and has surrendered four goals in four of six contests, including in each of the last three.
“I think our checking game is not in order,” Cassidy said.
The Golden Knights spent a lot of Monday’s practice watching video to rectify the mistakes that led to such an unsuccessful road trip, which included blowing six consecutive one-goal leads in the final two games.
“We’ve had the lead a lot, it’s just about managing the puck a little bit better and being better with that lead and being a little more assertive when you have a lead,” Hanifin said.
Cassidy discussed the fact that Vegas’ rush defense and breakout execution need to be better, something Hanifin also stressed.
“The last few games, we’ve had a hard time with [getting out of the zone],” Hanifin said. “I think for D, it starts with our gaps. Having better gaps is going to make our breakouts a little bit easier and give our forwards more time to get on the rush. I think if we can tweak that and get a little bit better in that area, I think it’s going to help us a lot in our overall game.”
The Golden Knights also will look to get pucks deep and avoid some of the sloppy line changes that proved costly on the road.
“There’s a trust you gotta have,” Cassidy said. “We lacked a bit of that on the road. We got to trust that that puck is getting deep so our D can get the hell off and get fresh legs out there. That’s when you see the ones that are sometimes in between. It’s usually a puck that we assume is getting deep that doesn’t, and now they’re scrambling back. … That’s early season things that we need to correct, and a little bit of that is just playing in sync with one another.”
Vegas could use a better turnout by Tomas Hertl, who really struggled on the road, including managing the worst Corsi share on the team against Florida (27.66 percent), per Natural Stat Trick. He has helped the power play tenfold but has yet to record a point at 5-on-5 this season, which is hindering Vegas.
Hertl and the Golden Knights will go up against David Rittich, who is expected to get the nod tonight with Darcy Kuemper on injured reserve. Rittich is 2-1-0 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .891 save percentage this season. He has struggled against Vegas throughout his career, going 2-6-0 and recording a 3.82 goals-against average and .872 save percentage.
For Vegas, Ilya Samsonov will be back between the pipes, getting his first pair of consecutive starts of the year. Samsonov is 1-0-1 with a 2.41 goals-against average and .931 save percentage in two appearances this season; he is 3-1-0 all-time against the Kings.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Brendan Brisson — Cole Schwindt — Alexander Holtz
Tanner Pearson — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Noah Hanifin — Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore — Brayden McNabb
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Ilya Samsonov
Adin Hill
Injured: William Karlsson, Victor Olofsson
Kings
Quinton Byfield — Anze Kopitar — Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala — Phillip Danault — Trevor Moore
Warren Foegele — Alex Turcotte — Alex Laferriere
Tanner Jeannot — Trevor Lewis — Andre Lee
Mikey Anderson — Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Andreas Englund — Jordan Spence
David Rittich
Pheonix Copley
Injured: Drew Doughty, Darcy Kuemper
How to watch
Game 7: Golden Knights vs. Kings
When: 8 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: ESPN, ESPN+
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM