Tonight the Vegas Golden Knights (4-1-0, 8 points) face another tough early season matchup as they take on the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Colorado Avalanche (2-2-1, 5 points) are fresh off a pair of losses, a regulation loss to the Seattle Kraken on Friday, and an overtime loss vs. the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, a team that Vegas handily defeated on Thursday evening.
Vegas has scored 17 goals, has allowed 10 against, and currently are tied with Boston with a .800 winning percentage. Colorado has scored 19 goals, allowed 17 against, and is 16th in the league with a .500 winning percentage.
Tonight’s matchup is the first of three games the three will play against each other, and the next encounter will take place in Colorado on January 2, 2023. The changes made to the NHL schedule were done so that fans have a chance to see all the teams around the league, but it certainly is a bit of a bummer that we’ll only have this matchup three times.
If all goes right for both sides, this could be a potential Western Conference Final matchup, and tonight’s performance can serve as a bit of a benchmark in regards to how the team has started under new bench boss Bruce Cassidy.
Vegas rebounded in their last game vs. the Jets after playing undisciplined hockey vs. the Calgary Flames, a game in which an inability to stay out of the penalty box let their opponent back in the game after the Golden Knights took an early 2-0 lead.
Colorado recently lost Gabriel Landeskog to a long-term injury, but they still have a number of players that can cause havoc for the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights have some decent options as well, and here is a projected lineup for both sides.
Vegas Golden Knights
Reilly Smith — Jack Eichel — Phil Kessel
Brett Howden — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Mike Amadio— William Karlsson — Jonathan Marchessault
Will Carrier — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Colorado Avalanche
Artturi Lehkonen — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Valeri Nichushkin — J.T. Compher — Martin Kaut
Andrew Cogliano — Alex Newhook — Evan Rodrigues
Dryden Hunt — Jayson Megna — Logan O’Connor
Bowen Byram — Cale Makar
Sam Girard — Josh Manson
Kurtis MacDermid — Erik Johnson
Alexander Georgiev
This is a bit of a busy stretch for the Golden Knights to start the season, and every opportunity to bank points is important. They are off to a good start, and tonight will be a good early test vs. a tough division rival.
Logan Thompson certainly has another big opportunity ahead of him, and he’ll look to continue giving the team in front of him a chance to win.
Feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss the game.