The Vegas Golden Knights will take on the St. Louis Blues tonight for the first time in over two months with the bad guys taking home a tough 2-1 win in the last contest. Paul Stastny‘s late third period goal would go on to be the winner and would eventually end the Golden Knights’ eight-game winning streak.
The Golden Knights enter tonight sitting first place in the Pacific Division with a record of 48-22-7, whereas the Blues are currently battling for a wild card spot and hold a record of 43-28-5, good for fourth place in the Central Division.
Vegas is coming off a tough 3-2 loss against the Arizona Coyotes in a game where the power play was firing on all cylinders, but nothing else was. The Golden Knights scored two man-advantage goals thanks to the likes of Erik Haula and Alex Tuch, but Arizona’s Kevin Connauton would score a late second period goal which made the difference.
The Golden Knights are now 5-3-2 in their last 10 games and have scored 26 goals within that time, but have also allowed 24 goals.
St. Louis, on the other hand, is currently coming off a huge 3-2 overtime win against the San Jose Sharks a couple of days ago, which extended their winning streak to six games. The Blues now have eight wins in their last nine games (8-1-0) and have scored 32 goals within that time while only allowing 20.
With two critical points on the line, here’s what to watch for in tonight’s matchup:
Will Vegas be able to rebound after a tough loss and move closer to the division title?
There are two different ways the Golden Knights can clinch the Pacific Division title this weekend and both scenarios seem fairly easy. The first one being Vegas just has to win tonight’s game and and win/lose in beyond regulation to San Jose tomorrow night. The second way being lose tonight but clinch with a win tomorrow night. The Golden Knights will have to have an early start tonight by getting pucks to the net often and creating key chances from the slot and forget about the tough loss to the Coyotes. Jonathan Marchessault (seven points in five games) and William Karlsson (five points in five games) have been on fire as of late for Vegas and can hopefully stay hot tonight against a good defensive team in the Blues.
Can The Golden Knights control the streaking St. Louis Blues?
St. Louis has been on fire, winning six straight games and eight out of their last nine. The Blues are right in the middle of a playoff hunt for that second and final wild card spot in the Western Conference and every game from here on out means everything to them. The Blues have been led by their star Russian forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who has four points in his last three games, and also underrated star center Brayden Schenn, who has five points in his last five games. If the Golden Knights can stop these two stars and shut them down, then Vegas might see a division title in their inaugural NHL season.
How to Watch
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, NHL.TV
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM