The Vegas Golden Knights (8-3-1) are a perfect 8-0-0 on home ice but have yet to secure two points in four road contests this season. They will look to change that tonight when they take on the Edmonton Oilers (6-6-1), who are expected to be without the injured Connor McDavid.
McDavid sustained a lower-body injury and has missed the last three games. He may be ahead of the original timetable of 2-3 weeks, though his status has not been confirmed for tonight.
This is a major opportunity for the Golden Knights, whose most recent road effort saw them suffer a dismal 6-3 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings after winning four straight at T-Mobile Arena. Vegas bounced back with a 4-3 overtime victory when they hosted Utah on Saturday, but the club has been unable to replicate its success away from home.
The Golden Knights went 1-1-1 in last year’s season series against the Oilers and have an all-time regular-season record of 9-10-3 against their Pacific Division rivals, who lost in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup last year after a remarkable turnaround.
After starting the season 0-3-0 and then 2-4-1, the Oilers have won four of their last six games despite getting shut out by the Devils on Monday.
Leon Draisaitl leads the club in scoring with nine goals and 16 points through 13 games, while McDavid has chipped in three goals and 10 points in 10 games. Surprisingly, Mattias Ekholm is third on the team with nine points. After scoring 54 goals and 77 points last season, Zach Hyman has just two goals and four points.
One major contributing factor to Edmonton’s slow start has been its special teams, particularly the power play, which set NHL records in recent years but has struggled early this season.
In fact, the Oilers are clicking at just 14.7 percent on the man-advantage, good for 27th overall. The picture is even more bleak on the penalty kill, as Edmonton ranks last in the NHL with a success rate of just 60 percent.
Vegas, by contrast, is currently third in the league on the power play (32.3 percent). That being said, Vegas ranks 23rd while shorthanded, killing off 73.9 percent of opposing power plays. That number drops to 62.5 percent on the road, which is good for 31st overall.
The Golden Knights are scoring an average of 4.50 goals per game this season but have managed just 2.75 (23rd) on the road.
Edmonton is producing 2.38 goals per game (30th) while giving up 3.15 (tied for 16th), which is very similar to Vegas’ average of 3.08 goals against per game (tied for 12th).
In net, Stuart Skinner has gone 3-4-1 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .881 save percentage with one shutout, while Calvin Pickard is 3-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA and .886 save percentage.
For Vegas, Adin Hill is 5-2-0 with a 3.15 GAA and .874 save percentage and one shutout. Ilya Samsonov, who missed Saturday’s game with an undisclosed injury, is 3-1-1 with a 2.95 GAA and .906 save percentage. He had his worst game of the year in his last outing in Los Angeles but has otherwise been solid for Vegas this season. Akira Schmid served as Hill’s backup against Utah.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Tanner Pearson — William Karlsson — Alexander Holtz
Cole Schwindt — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Noah Hanifin — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
Oilers
Jeff Skinner — Ryan Nugent-Hopkins — Zach Hyman
Vasily Podkolzin — Leon Draisaitl — Viktor Arvidsson
Mattias Janmark — Adam Henrique — Connor Brown
Derek Ryan — Noah Philp — Corey Perry
Mattias Ekholm — Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse — Troy Stecher
Brett Kulak — Ty Emberson
Stuart Skinner
Calvin Pickard
How to watch
Game 13: Golden Knights at Oilers
When: 5:30 p.m.
Where: Rogers Place — Edmonton, AB
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM