The Vegas Golden Knights (7-2-0, 14 points) have won three games in a row, and today they end their current homestand with a matchup against an opponent they recently defeated without issue. The Winnipeg Jets (5-3-0, 10 points) enter tonight’s game also having won their last three in a row, and they will attempt to hand the Golden Knights a loss, and potentially knock they from their No. 1 spot in the Western Conference.
Vegas has scored 30 goals, has allowed 16 against, and currently second in the league with a .778 points percentage. Winnipeg has scored 25 goals, allowed 23 against, and is 7th in the league with a .625 points percentage.
Tonight’s matchup is the second of three games the three will play against each other, and the next encounter will take place in Winnipeg on December 13. The Golden Knights defeated the Jets 5-2 in their first meeting, and Winnipeg was unsuccessful slowing down Vegas’ high-powered offense.
Related
Golden Knights ride four-goal first period to 5-2 victory against Jets
It didn’t help that Winnipeg had their backup David Rittich in, but in the Golden Knights’ defense they started backup Adin Hill. A big story of the game will once again involve goaltending, as the Golden Knights are taking on a top-flight netminder in Connor Hellebuyck who is off to a 4-2-0 start while posting a 2.50 goals against average, and a .925 save percentage.
Logan Thompson is off to an even better start, as he’s posted a 4-2-0 record with a 1.69 goals against average and a .943 save percentage. At some point you would expect those numbers to normalize, but right now he’s playing incredible hockey behind a really talented team.
Here are some numbers of note for both teams, and how they compare in some key areas.
With those out of the way, here is a projected lineup for both sides.
Vegas Golden Knights
Chandler Stephenson — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Reilly Smith — William Karlsson — Jonathan Marchessault
Brett Howden— Nicolas Roy — Phil Kessel
Mike Amadio — Jake Leschyshyn — Will Carrier
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Colorado Avalanche
Kyle Connor — Mark Scheifele — Mason Appleton
Cole Perfetti — Pierre-Luc DuBois — Blake Wheeler
Morgan Barron — Adam Lowry — Sam Gagner
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby — David Gustafsson — Saku Maenalanen
Josh Morrissey — Neal Pionk
Brenden Dillon — Nate Schmidt
Dylan Samberg — Dylan DeMelo
Connor Hellebuyck
This is the last game of the current homestand, and they will be on the road for the next five games with stops in Washington, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Buffalo. Finishing the current homestand on a high note is ideal, and the team has a good chance of doing that this evening.
Feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss the game.