The Vegas Golden Knights (14-5-4) will wrap up their three-game road trip with a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks (15-7-1), as the two clubs battle for the lead in the Pacific Division.
Vegas and Vancouver are the top two teams in the division with 32 and 31 points, respectively.
The Golden Knights are coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers. Ben Hutton and Keegan Kolesar scored two goals in the final 6:30 of regulation to force overtime. Though the Golden Knights came up short in the shootout for their third loss in a row (0-1-2), Vegas collected another critical point thanks to the late rally.
The Golden Knights have lost eight of their last 11 games (3-5-3) and are 0-0-2 so far on this trip through Western Canada.
Once again, it will be Vegas’ third game in four nights, but the Golden Knights are hoping to secure another two points with a win tonight against Teddy Blueger and the Canucks. It could be a battle of the goaltenders, as two of the top goalies in the NHL are expected to go head-to-head.
Vegas will be without Shea Theodore, who is week-to-week after undergoing successful surgery for an upper-body injury. Alec Martinez remains out of the lineup as well.
This is the first of four meetings between these teams this season; they will square off again on March 7 (T-Mobile Arena), April 2 (T-Mobile Arena) and April 8 (Rogers Arena).
The Golden Knights are 12-2-3 in the all-time matchup and 7-0-2 at Rogers Arena; they went 2-1-0 in last year’s season series, and they defeated the Canucks in seven games in the second round of the 2019-20 postseason.
2022-23 Season series recap
Game #1 (20 of 82): Vegas @ Vancouver (5-4 VGK)
Vegas scored three goals in the span of 7:20 in the third to rally past the Canucks. William Carrier scored twice.
Game #2 (23 of 82): Vegas vs. Vancouver (5-1 VAN)
Vancouver scored five consecutive goals, including three straight on the power play. Jonathan Marchessault scored in the final four minutes of regulation, but Vancouver was dominant in the lopsided loss.
Game #3 (71 of 82): Vegas at Vancouver (4-3 VGK)
After taking a 2-0 lead in the first, the Golden Knights gave up two goals in the second period, including the first penalty-shot goal scored against Vegas in franchise history. But Vegas never surrendered the lead, holding on for the 4-3 win.
Tonight’s opponent
The Canucks went 6-1-0 at the start of November but have gone 5-4-1 in their last 10. They are coming off a 3-1 win against Anaheim, which improved their league-best home record to 8-1-1.
Vancouver scores more than any team (3.96 goals per game) and surrenders just 2.48 goals per game, which is the fourth-lowest rate in the NHL, trailing Vegas (2.43) slightly.
The Canucks are 12-4-0 when scoring first; only the Rangers have more wins (13) when taking a 1-0 lead. By contrast, Vancouver is 3-3-1 when giving up the first goal. Vegas is 9-1-2 when lighting the lamp first and 5-4-2 when falling in a 1-0 hole; in the last 11 games, the Golden Knights have scored first just four times.
Vancouver has three players in the top-10 in points this season, including J.T. Miller, who is second overall with 35, Quinn Hughes (third overall with 33 points) and Elias Pettersson, who is tied for seventh with 30.
Brock Boeser leads the NHL with 17 goals in 23 games; Miller is second on Vancouver with 13, Pettersson is third with nine and Hughes is fourth with eight. Defenseman Filip Hronek is having an excellent start to the season as well; he is fifth on the Canucks in scoring with 23 points (including 21 assists) in 23 games.
Special teams report
Power play
Vegas: 20.7 percent — 14th overall
Vancouver: 29.8 percent — 3rd overall
Penalty kill
Vegas: 85.7 percent — 7th overall
Vancouver: 76.4 percent — 22nd overall
In the crease
Golden Knights
Adin Hill (13 starts) — Record: 9-2-2 | GAA: 1.96 | SV%: .933 | SO: 2
Hill leads the league in goals-against average and save percentage and is tied for second with two shutouts. Per Evolving Hockey, Hill has a league-high 11.04 goals saved above average and is second (behind tonight’s opponent) with 11.82 goals saved above expected. Hill is 0-2-0 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .887 save percentage all-time against Vancouver; however, he has yet to face the Canucks as a member of the Golden Knights.
Canucks
Thatcher Demko (16 starts) — Record: 11-5-0 | GAA: 2.10 | SV%: .928 | SO: 2
Demko is fourth in goals-against average, fifth in save percentage and is tied for second with two shutouts. He is second only to Hill with 10.78 goals saved above average, and he leads the league with 15.24 goals saved above expected, according to Evolving Hockey. His name has been tossed around in the early Vezina discussion. He is 2-3-1 with a 3.71 goals-against average and .891 save percentage all-time against Vegas.
Keys to the game
Advantage Vegas: The Golden Knights took care of business and addressed their lack of scoring at 5-on-5 with four goals Tuesday night in Edmonton. Notably, all four goals were the result of going to the net and winning battles, two things Vegas had not been incorporating into its gameplan. Those are two key components that need to continue to be part of Vegas’ strategy, but 5-on-5 scoring can’t come at the expense of the power play, which had been a consistent source of offense. Against the Oilers, Vegas went 0-for-5, and the Golden Knights have gone a combined 1-for-13 in their last three games. The power play could be particularly important tonight against the red-hot Demko.
Slow the stars: The Canucks boast a powerful combination of offense and stellar goaltending, making them a very difficult opponent. The Canucks also have the third-best power play in the league. Though Edmonton only scored one goal the other night, the Oilers’ power play looked lethal; without two top defensemen, the Golden Knights will have to step up and kill penalties by committee. Avoiding them will be ideal against such a high-powered offense, especially with so many weapons. Neutralizing (or at least limiting) some of those weapons will be key. Between Miller, Pettersson, Boeser and Hughes, the Golden Knights will have their hands full. At the other end of the rink, Demko will pose quite a challenge. He has played lights-out hockey against Vegas before, and if the Golden Knights don’t capitalize on their Grade-A chances, he’s not going to be easy to beat.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Chandler Stephenson — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Ivan Barbashev — William Karlsson — Jonathan Marchessault
William Carrier —Nicolas Roy — Michael Amadio
Paul Cotter — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Nicolas Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Kaedan Korczak
Ben Hutton — Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Logan Thompson
Canucks
Ilya Mikheyev — Elias Pettersson — Andrei Kuzmenko
Phil Di Giuseppe — J.T. Miller — Brock Boeser
Dakota Joshua — Teddy Blueger — Conor Garland
Nils Hoglander — Nils Aman — Sam Lafferty
Quinn Hughes — Noah Juulsen
Filip Hronek — Cole McWard
Ian Cole — Tyler Myers
Thatcher Demko
Casey DeSmith
How to watch
Game 24: Golden Knights at Canucks
When: 7 p.m. PT
Where: Rogers Place — Vancouver, BC
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM
(Photo of Brayden McNabb checking J.T. Miller: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports)