The Vegas Golden Knights will face Chicago for the second time in less than a week when they host Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks this afternoon at T-Mobile Arena for Nevada Day (3 p.m. PT).
Vegas is 3-2 all-time on Nevada Day, with a 7-0 win against Colorado in 2017, a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay in 2018, a 6-1 loss to Colorado in 2019, a 5-4 shootout win against Anaheim in 2021 and a 4-0 shutout win against Anaheim in 2022.
The Golden Knights (7-0-0) are coming off a 3-2 rally against the Philadelphia Flyers that saw them score twice in the third period to collect their seventh win of the season.
The Golden Knights and Blackhawks met last Saturday in Chicago in the Blackhawks’ home opener. It wasn’t a complete effort by the Golden Knights, but a Nicolas Roy goal 13 seconds into the third period turned the tide, leading to a 5-3 victory.
This time around, the Golden Knights will be without Roy, as the forward sustained an injury in the third period of Saturday’s game. He has been ruled out for both games this weekend.
However, Alex Pietrangelo is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last five games.
Adin Hill and Logan Thompson are expected to split the back-to-back, and both have been reliable through seven games. Hill was in net Saturday against Chicago and turned aside 21 of 24 shots (.875 save percentage), though Chicago scored on the last shot of the game with 15 seconds to go. Thompson faced Chicago twice last season, winning both matchups while surrendering just one goal on 52 combined shots (.981 SV%).
Both goaltenders remain undefeated this season. Hill is 4-0-0 with a 1.73 goals-against and .934 save percentage, while Thompson is 3-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.
The Blackhawks have lost three straight, though those three have come against teams that were all undefeated at the time (Colorado, Vegas and Boston). The Blackhawks were shut out against the Avalanche and Bruins by a combined score of 7-0 and are 2-5-0 through seven games.
Connor Bedard was held without a shot in both shutout losses, though he scored on his first shot against Vegas, beating Hill short-side with a power-play strike 90 seconds into the game. Bedard is second on the team in scoring with two goals and two assists, trailing Corey Perry (2-3—5).
The Blackhawks rank 30th on the power play (6.7 percent) with just two goals on 30 attempts, though one of those was Bedard’s first-period tally against Vegas. The Golden Knights’ power play ranks ninth overall, operating at a 24 percent conversion rate with six goals on 25 opportunities.
Both teams have been excellent on the penalty kill. The Blackhawks rank ninth overall with an 86.4 percent conversion rate (19-for-22), while the Golden Knights own the sixth-best kill, which has gone 18-for-20 (90 percent).
The Golden Knights will look to keep the good times rolling as the only remaining undefeated team in the NHL. Colorado (6-1-0) was shut out last night against Pittsburgh, and Boston (6-0-1) gave up two goals in the final two minutes of regulation before falling in overtime to Anaheim.
But while the Golden Knights’ record is spotless, the team’s play has not been perfect.
Vegas has had lulls in its play, and head coach Bruce Cassidy has had to tweak lines multiple times. That comes with the territory of playing in a competitive league, but the Golden Knights are not playing their best hockey.
Eventually, the streak will end. It’s not sustainable or realistic, and as Cassidy said yesterday, there’s a lot to be learned from winning but also from losing.
“I do believe you need both to truly get where you want to go,” he said.
The Golden Knights have played well enough to win and have been able to find different ways to win, whether it’s a last-minute goal like Shea Theodore’s game-winner against Philadelphia, a momentum-changing goal in the opening seconds of the third like Roy’s strike in Chicago, a timely power-play goal like Jack Eichel’s at 15:24 of the third period against Winnipeg, or a game-tying goal in the final three minutes of regulation like William Karlsson’s equalizer against Dallas. But the last four games have come down to the third period.
“One of these nights, we’re gonna put ourselves in that position, and the team we’re playing against is gonna be able to shut the door, and that’s just the way it works,” Cassidy said. “No one wins them all.”
Vegas will look to deliver a more consistent and balanced effort this afternoon as it aims for its eighth consecutive win.
The Golden Knights are 12-2-2 all-time against the Blackhawks.
Keys to the game
Solid start: The Golden Knights have prevailed with late pushes in recent games, but there have been several times when the game plan has not been executed for 60 minutes. More than that, there have been long stretches where the Golden Knights have been outplayed and/or outworked. Scoring first hasn’t been a factor, though Vegas has done so in four out of seven games. But taking control early will make enforcing their game plan more manageable. Staying out of the box in the opening frame is a good way to get into a rhythm, as is getting on the forecheck early.
Three cheers: The Golden Knights have scored three or more goals in six out of seven games this season, all of which were wins secured in regulation. The “rule of three” has been a factor for the Golden Knights for some time. In fact, in games in which they’ve scored at least three goals, the Golden Knights have strung together 27 consecutive wins dating back to last season (including the playoffs). The last time Vegas scored three goals through the end of overtime and did not win was March 30 against San Jose, a 4-3 overtime loss. Particularly given how well the goaltenders have played, lighting the lamp three times seems to go a long way towards coming away with two points.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Pavel Dorofeyev — William Karlsson — Michael Amadio
William Carrier — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague — Kaedan Korczak
Adin Hill
Logan Thompson
Blackhawks
Nick Foligno — Connor Bedard — Philipp Kurashev
Jason Dickinson — Lukas Reichel — Taylor Raddysh
Tyler Johnson — Ryan Donato — Corey Perry
Boris Katchouk — MacKenzie Entwistle — Reese Johnson
Kevin Korchinski — Seth Jones
Alex Vlasic — Connor Murphy
Wyatt Kaiser — Jarred Tinordi
Petr Mrazek
Arvid Soderblom
How to watch
Game 8: Golden Knights vs. Blackhawks
When: 3:00 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: NHL Network, Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM