The Vegas Golden Knights are coming off their 10th win of the season and will look to extend their 11-game point streak when they take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight at T-Mobile Arena.
This will be Vegas’ biggest test of the year, and the contest comes one game after Vegas delivered arguably its best overall performance of the season. It wasn’t perfect, but it was much closer to Golden Knights hockey, and the players remain focused on continuing in that direction.
At 10-0-1, Vegas is in first place in the NHL, but the 7-2-0 Avalanche will look to play spoiler.
The Avalanche started out a perfect 6-0-0 but proceeded to lose back-to-back games, both of which were 4-0 defeats in which Colorado was held off the scoresheet. However, the Avalanche bounced back with a 4-1 win against St. Louis, giving them some momentum headed into tonight’s battle.
Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon lead the team in scoring with 14, 11 and nine points, respectively. Rantanen has a team-high six goals, and he and Makar lead the way with eight assists apiece. Ryan Johansen, acquired from Nashville in the offseason, has a team-best three power-play goals.
In the all-time series against the Golden Knights, MacKinnon has a clear edge with 21 points in 22 games, while Rantanen has 12 points in 19 contests.
Colorado is averaging 3.44 goals per game this season, which ranks ninth overall in the NHL (Vegas is fifth: 3.64). The Avalanche are the fifth-stingiest club in the league, giving up an average of just 2.33 goals per game (Vegas is third: 2.18).
Needless to say, both teams have performed at a high level so far this season.
The Golden Knights are 9-12-1 all-time against the Avalanche and went 1-2-0 in the season series last year.
2022-23 season series recap
Game 6 of 82: Vegas vs. Colorado (3-2 COL)
MacKinnon scored on the power play just under six minutes into the game, and Vegas went 16 minutes without a shot in the opening frame. However, Jonathan Marchessault scored on the power play off a great feed from Mark Stone (the 300th assist of his career) to make it 1-1 with 44 seconds left in the first.
Bruce Cassidy made some late line changes, reuniting the Misfit Line and putting Chandler Stephenson, Jack Eichel and Stone together; Stephenson scored to make it a one-goal game 2:22 after Colorado took a 3-1 lead, but the rally fell short despite the exciting push. Vegas blocked 27 shots but went 0-for-2 on the penalty kill.
Game 40 of 82: Vegas @ Colorado (3-2 VGK)
Once again, MacKinnon scored early in the first (this time it took just 25 seconds), but Vegas responded with three straight. Every member of the fourth line found the scoresheet as Michael Amadio extended his point streak to seven games (5-4–9) and Nicolas Roy scored twice, snapping a 17-game goalless drought. Rantanen scored in the third, but the Golden Knights held on for the win.
Game 60 of 82: Vegas @ Colorado (3-0 COL)
The game-winner came just 14 seconds into the first when Adin Hill coughed up the puck, but Vegas struggled in the neutral zone and was not hard on the puck in the offensive zone throughout the contest.
It was the second time through 60 games that Vegas was shut out. Ivan Barbashev made his Golden Knights debut, playing 16:40 and, ironically, skating on the top line with Eichel and Marchessault.
Special teams report
Power play
Golden Knights: 25.6 percent (10-for-39) — 8th overall
Avalanche: 20 percent (7-for-35) — 14th overall
Penalty kill
Golden Knights: 88.2 percent (30-for-34) — 7th overall
Avalanche: 94.4 percent (34-for-36) — 2nd overall
Goalie matchup
Vegas
The Golden Knights have a back-to-back this weekend, so Hill could get the nod tonight, which would leave Logan Thompson to patrol the crease tomorrow against Anaheim. That being said, it could be the other way around.
Adin Hill: 5-0-1, 2.11 GAA, .923 SV% | Logan Thompson: 5-0-0, 2.16 GAA, .932 SV%
Colorado
Alexandar Georgiev: 6-2-0, 2.40 GAA, .915 SV%
Keys to the game
Be ready to go
In all three games against Colorado last season, the Golden Knights found themselves trailing early in the first. In fact, the Avalanche scored at 5:38, 0:25 and 0:14 of the opening frame in the three games, two of which they went on to win. Scoring first hasn’t mattered for the Golden Knights through 11 games, but being forced to chase early against a top team in the league is something Vegas wants to avoid.
Let old habits die
The Golden Knights are coming off a strong 60-minute effort against Winnipeg. Many areas of their game were improved, and Vegas had control of the game for most of the night. That hadn’t been the case throughout most of the first 10 games of the year, regardless of Vegas’ record. The Golden Knights need to build on that performance rather than reverting to old habits.
Honorable mention: Discipline. Colorado’s power play may be underperforming compared to expectations, but the Golden Knights don’t want to wake the sleeping giant.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Pavel Dorofeyev — William Karlsson — Michael Amadio
Jonas Rondbjerg — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Ben Hutton — Brayden Pachal
Adin Hill
Logan Thompson
Injured: Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy, William Carrier (illness), Zach Whitecloud
Avalanche
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Riley Tufte — Ryan Johansen — Valeri Nichushkin
Miles Wood — Ross Colton — Logan O’Connor
Kurtis MacDermid — Fredrik Olofsson — Andrew Cogliano
Devon Toews — Cale Makar
Bowen Byram — Sam Girard
Jack Johnson — Josh Manson
Alexandar Georgiev
Ivan Prosvetov
Injured: Gabriel Landeskog, Pavel Francouz
How to watch
Game 12: Golden Knights vs. Avalanche
When: 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM