After winning the first two games of the month, the Vegas Golden Knights have gone 3-5-1 in their last nine games and have been shut out three times in less than two weeks.
Saturday night’s 2-0 home loss to Arizona was the third such occasion after Vegas suffered 3-0 defeats at the hands of Washington and Pittsburgh.
The Golden Knights (14-5-2) are back on the road with a back-to-back in Alberta, starting tonight against the Calgary Flames (8-10-3), who are in fifth place in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights will look for a more consistent effort and better overall results after going 2-3-1 over the last six games.
Calgary is coming off a 3-1 loss to Colorado after defeating Dallas 7-4 the night before.
After finishing October on a 1-6-1 stretch with five straight losses to close out the month, Calgary’s play has improved in recent weeks. Calgary is 5-3-2 in its last 10 games and 6-4-2 in November. The club is averaging 3.58 goals per month (compared to 2.11 in October).
On the year, the Flames are ranked 20th in the NHL with 2.95 goals per game and 21st with an average of 3.38 goals against. The Golden Knights have scored 3.14 goals per game (18th) and have given up 2.38, which is the third-lowest average in the league.
Elias Lindholm leads the Flames in scoring with 15 points, while Andrew Mangiapane, Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau are tied for second with 13. Blake Coleman rounds out the top-5 and has a team-high six goals.
The Golden Knights are 12-6-0 all-time against Calgary and split the season series with the Flames last year (2-2-0).
2022-23 season series recap
Game #1 (4 of 82): Vegas @ Calgary (3-2 CGY)
William Carrier and Brett Howden scored in the first period to give Vegas a 2-0 lead. However, everything fell apart in the middle frame when Vegas took six minor penalties. Calgary tied it up with two power-play goals and then scored with under five minutes in the third to complete the comeback. Vegas was outshot 40-21.
Game #2 (58 of 82): Vegas vs. Calgary (4-3 VGK, OT)
The Golden Knights scored twice in a dominant third-period effort, erasing a 3-1 deficit and allowing just one shot on goal in the entire frame. The Golden Knights completed the comeback when Alex Pietrangelo scored 42 seconds into extra time.
Game #3 (69 of 82): Vegas vs. Calgary (7-2 CGY)
With their backs against the walls, the Flames came out and secured their first-ever regulation win at T-Mobile Arena with a 7-2 victory. Vegas fought back from a 2-0 hole, evening things up late in the second, but proceeded to surrender five unanswered goals in a lopsided loss.
Game #4 (72 of 82): Vegas at Calgary (3-2 VGK)
The Golden Knights pulled off a gutsy 3-2 win against a desperate Flames club. Michael Amadio set a new career high in goals when he scored his 12th of the season, while Nicolas Roy, who returned to the lineup after missing 14 games, scored the game-winning goal. However, this was the game when Logan Thompson suffered a season-ending injury.
Special teams report
Power play
Vegas: 21.6 percent (16-for-74) — 12th overall
Calgary: 11.8 percent (8-for-68) — 27th overall
Penalty kill
Vegas: 85.9 percent (55-for-64) — 6th overall
Calgary: 84.3 percent (59-for-70) — 11th overall
In the crease
Golden Knights
Logan Thompson — Record: 5-3-1 | GAA: 2.32 | SV%: .922
Adin Hill — Record: 9-2-1 (2 shutouts) | GAA: 1.97 | SV%: .932
Hill ranks second in the NHL with 10.22 goals saved above average, trailing only Cam Talbot (10.25), per Evolving Hockey, and is third in goals saved above expected (10.11). Thompson is ninth (5.39) and 15th (5.8), respectively. Though Thompson has not started two consecutive games this season, he has better career numbers against Calgary (2-1-0, 2.09 GAA, .948 SV%), so Hill could get the nod Tuesday in Edmonton.
Flames
Jacob Markstrom — Record: 5-7-2 | GAA: 2.93 | SV%: .901
Markstrom hasn’t had a lot of defensive help this season. He went 1-5-1 in his first seven games despite posting a 2.88 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. Ironically, his numbers are slightly worse in November (2.99 GAA, .900 SV%), but he has bounced back with a 4-2-1 record. In the all-time series, Markstrom is 5-9-1 with a 3.51 goals-against average and .894 save percentage along with one shutout. Since joining the Flames, he has gone 3-3-0 with a 2.60 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. Markstrom is fourth in goals saved above expected this season (10.08).
Keys to the game
On the offensive: This month, Vegas ranks 24th in scoring with 2.82 goals per game, which is down from the season average of 3.14 and the October average of 3.50. In the last nine games, Vegas has been outscored 26-19; in that time, the Golden Knights have averaged fewer goals than every other team in the NHL with just 2.11 per game. That can’t continue, especially with three road games against division opponents.
“Some of our guys that we rely on for offense are not willing to [support the puck] right now, and as a result, the offense has dried up. Until they’re willing to get back to basics, I can’t sit here and tell you we’re going to come out of it tomorrow or the next day because there’s a certain way to play. If the ice is available in front of you, you take it, you make your plays; if it’s not, you go put it behind them, put it in a good spot and get it back.”
—Bruce Cassidy
Own the road: Home-ice advantage has been a key factor in this matchup over the years. Vegas is 4-5-0 all-time at Scotiabank Saddledome, where the Flames have outscored the Golden Knights 37-26. By contrast, Vegas is 8-1-0 at T-Mobile Arena and has outscored Calgary 36-18. Similarly, in Vegas, the Golden Knights have killed off 85.3 percent of Calgary’s power plays; in Calgary, that number drops to 63.3 percent. Considering Vegas’ recent struggles with consistency, particularly on its recent five-game road trip, the Golden Knights need to be especially diligent and disciplined in a building in which they’ve struggled. Scoring first could help; Vegas has done so just once in the last six games.
Honorable mention: Once again, it’s worth mentioning Chandler Stephenson, who has not looked like Chandler Stephenson this season. After finishing second on the team in scoring over the last two years with 65 points in 81 games in 2021-22 and 64 points in 79 games in 2022-23, Stephenson has 11 points — including just two goals and none since Oct. 14 — in 17 games. Stephenson has just 16 shots on the season. The Vegas offense is in dire need of his services.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Shea Theodore was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least the next two games; as a result, Kaedan Korczak was recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights. Alec Martinez was not at practice yesterday.
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Jonathan Marchessault
Brett Howden — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Paul Cotter — William Karlsson — Michael Amadio
William Carrier — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Brayden McNabb — Zach Whitecloud
Nicolas Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Ben Hutton — Brayden Pachal
Logan Thompson
Adin Hill
Flames
Andrew Mangiapane — Elias Lindholm — Yegor Sharangovich
Jonathan Huberdeau — Mikael Backlund — Blake Coleman
Connor Zary — Nazem Kadri — Martin Pospisil
A.J. Greer — Adam Ruzicka — Dillon Dube
MacKenzie Weegar — Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin — Chris Tanev
Nikita Zadorov — Dennis Gilbert
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
How to watch
Game 22: Golden Knights at Flames
When: 6:30 p.m. PT
Where: Scotiabank Saddledome — Calgary, AB
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM