The Vegas Golden Knights will look to extend their winning streak to four games and their point streak to nine games when they take on the Calgary Flames tonight at T-Mobile Arena.
It will be the second game in Vegas’ four-game homestand after the club defeated the Sharks 5-4 in a shootout Sunday night.
The Golden Knights have won three consecutive games for the first time since early November but lost the only other matchup against the Flames this season, falling 2-1 late in overtime on MacKenzie Weegar’s buzzer-beater.
Several Golden Knights skaters carry point streaks into tonight’s game, including Jack Eichel, who has four goals and 12 points during his seven-game point streak. The list also includes Chandler Stephenson (three games, four points), Mark Stone (three games, four points), Brayden McNabb (three games, three points) and Zach Whitecloud (three games, four points).
Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals (giving him a team-high 14 on the year) and the shootout clincher in Sunday’s contest, which saw the Golden Knights blow a late lead but recover with a 2-0 victory in the shootout.
Jiri Patera made his first start of the season and stopped 35 of 39 shots, but Logan Thompson is expected to be back between the pipes tonight against the Flames.
The Flames are coming off a crushing 6-5 loss to the Avalanche last night in Denver. After leading 5-3 in the third, Calgary gave up three unanswered goals in the span of just 4:10. Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winner on a breakaway after blowing past the Calgary defensemen at the blue line.
The Flames have lost two straight and four of their last five games, going 4-6-0 in their last 10. They are currently in fifth place in the Pacific Division with 25 points through 28 games.
Aside from the goalie tandem, the only key change to the Calgary roster since the Nov. 27 meeting against Vegas is on the blue line, as Ilya Solovyov has replaced Nikita Zadorov. Zadorov was traded to Vancouver in exchange for third- and fifth-round draft picks after the rearguard requested a trade.
The Golden Knights are 12-6-1 in the all-time matchup against the Flames, including 8-1-0 on home ice (compared to 4-5-1 at Scotiabank Saddledome).
Tonight’s matchup
Vegas Golden Knights
Overall record: 19-5-5
Last 10 games: 6-1-3
Home record: 10-2-2
Goals for: 3.31 (10th)
Goals against: 2.34 (2nd)
Power play: 21.7 percent (13th)
Penalty kill: 86.9 percent (4th)
Points leaders: Eichel (12-20—32), William Karlsson (12-14—26), Mark Stone (8-17—25)
Goals leaders: Marchessault (14), Eichel (12), Karlsson (12), Stone (8)
Calgary Flames
Overall record: 11-14-3
Last 10 games: 4-6-0
Road record: 5-8-2
Goals for: 2.96 (22nd)
Goals against: 3.43 (27th)
Power play: 11.6 percent (28th)
Penalty kill: 83.9 percent (9th)
Points leaders: Nazem Kadri (7-13—20), Blake Coleman (8-11—19), Elias Lindholm (7-11—17)
Goals leaders: Coleman (8), Kadri (7), Lindholm (7), Mikael Backlund (6), Weegar (6)
In the crease
Golden Knights
Logan Thompson — Record: 8-3-3 | GAA: 2.29 | SV%: .919
Jiri Patera — Record: 1-0-0 | GAA: 3.69 | SV%: .897
Thompson has saved 9.95 goals above expected; he is 2-1-0 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .948 save percentage all-time against Calgary but was not in net when these teams met earlier this season.
Flames
Dustin Wolf — Record: 1-2-0 | GAA: 3.04 | SV%: .900
Dan Vladar — Record: 4-3-1 | GAA: 3.45 | SV%: .877
Vladar was in net for the Flames last night against the Avalanche, which means it’ll likely be Wolf who faces the Golden Knights tonight. Wolf falls slightly in the red in goals saved above expected (-0.87); comparatively, starting netminder Jacob Markstrom — who is on injured reserve — has saved 10.47 goals above expected this season. Vladar was in net when the Flames defeated the Golden Knights in November; he finished the game with 27 saves on 28 shots for a .964 save percentage. Wolf has yet to face the Golden Knights in his career; he has five games of NHL experience under his belt, including three starts this season.
Keys to the game
Ready, set, go
“All you can do is fight through the early moments and remind your team to just stick to the plan,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said about Vegas trailing 1-0 after the first period Sunday against San Jose.
The Golden Knights will look to avoid having that discussion during intermission tonight against Calgary.
The Flames have scored first in two straight games after giving up the first goal in their previous eight; that didn’t amount to wins, as they fell in regulation to both New Jersey and Colorado, but it demonstrates that the club has been able to address that problem. Calgary is still only 4-5-2 when scoring first, but falling behind and being forced to chase is not a position the Golden Knights want to put themselves in.
That’s especially true since Vegas is 13-1-2 when lighting the lamp first. At 6-4-3, the Golden Knights have still managed to win more often than not when giving up the first goal, but over the last 10 games, Vegas has gone 5-0-1 when taking a 1-0 lead.
Tonight, Calgary will be in the second half of a back-to-back after falling 6-5 to the Avs last night. The Flames gave up 16 shots in the first period and were fortunate to be tied at 1-1 through 20 minutes due to some stellar goaltending by Vladar, who was under siege. The Flames and Avalanche combined for six goals in the second period, with three (two for Calgary, one for Colorado) coming in the span of 2:58. But the Flames fell apart in the third, giving up three straight goals in just 4:10. Part of that was due to mental mistakes, and part of it was due to fatigue, especially on the blue line. The Flames were down to five defensemen 15 seconds into the game, and Calgary failed to contain Colorado or halt its momentum in the third; that’s something Vegas should look to exploit tonight with a strong transition game.
As a result of their collapse in Colorado, the Flames will be motivated to bounce back. As such, the Golden Knights need to come out strong. Teams in the second half of a back-to-back set often fade down the stretch, making the first period in tonight’s tilt an important frame. It’s not the be-all and end-all, but having a solid opening 20 minutes would go a long way towards helping Vegas extend its point streak.
The Golden Knights should look to capitalize early against an inexperienced goalie backstopping a tired group that has its worst goal differential in the first frame (-13). The Flames have given up the second-most first-period goals this season (35). By contrast, the third period is Calgary’s best with a goal differential of +5 (it was +8 before last night’s game). Plus, the Flames rank sixth in third-period goals (34), which is another reason why it’s important for Vegas to be ready from the first puck drop.
Puck management
There were pockets of sloppy play in Sunday’s game against San Jose, though there were many reasons for that (fatigue, coming off the fathers’ trip and the emotional pregame ceremony in the club’s return to Las Vegas). Though Vegas did what it had to do to get the win, the Golden Knights made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, for which Jose made them pay. The Golden Knights need to clean things up.
Cassidy put it best: “Don’t take yourself out of the game early with mental mistakes.”
Special attention
The Golden Knights’ only goal of the game in the November meeting against Calgary came on the power play, as Vegas went 1-for-3. However, the Flames have five shorthanded goals this season — two of which have come in Calgary’s last three games — which is tied for fifth overall in the NHL. The Golden Knights need to be careful on their power play against a dangerous kill, which is operating at 84.3 percent, good for ninth overall in the NHL.
Note: Calgary ranks 28th on the power play (11.6 percent) but has converted on 15.4 percent of its opportunities this month, good for 23rd overall.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — Chandler Stephenson — Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter — Chandler Stephenson — Michael Amadio
William Carrier — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Ben Hutton — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Brayden Pachal*
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Jiri Patera
*Kaedan Korczak was injured in overtime against San Jose. His injury status was not available at time of publication.
Flames
Connor Zary — Elias Lindholm — Yegor Sharangovich
Andrew Mangiapane — Nazem Kadri — Martin Pospisil
Jonathan Huberdeau — Mikael Backlund — Blake Coleman
A.J. Greer — Adam Ruzicka — Dillon Dube
MacKenzie Weegar — Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin — Jordan Oesterle*
Ilya Solovyov — Dennis Gilbert
Dustin Wolf
Dan Vladar
*Chris Tanev was injured 15 seconds into last night’s game and did not return. An update on his status was not available at time of publication.
How to watch
Game 30: Golden Knights vs. Flames
When: 7 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com, Evolving Hockey
(Photo of Chandler Stephenson, Mikael Backlund: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)