Another Measuring Stick Game for the Opposition: Golden Knights vs. Canucks Preview

The Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks meet to decide who will be in first place in the Pacific Division after tonight’s game. Canucks Coach Rick Tocchet on tonight’s game against the Golden Knights, “These are the games you should be excited about. The crowd will be into it, the spotlight is going to be on this game for us.”

Shocker, another team is using the Golden Knights as a measuring stick.

Betting line: STN Sports has the Golden Knights at even money with the Canucks as -120 favorites with an over/under of 6.5. The public is evenly split per covers.com.

Key storyline: The Canucks can score and the Golden Knights can defend. The Golden Knights cracked their scoring drought Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers. Mark Stone said after Tuesday’s game, “Now we got to put two and two together and get both the offense and defense going together.”

About the Golden Knights (14-5-4, 32 points): November has been a tough month for the Golden Knights with injuries and points in the standings. The Golden Knights will have played a total of 14 games in November after tonight’s game in Vancouver. The month featured two road trips and nine games on the road. The Golden Knights can salvage a respectable 15 points in November with a win against the Canucks.

Expected Lines

Stephenson-Eichel-Stone
Barbashev-Karlsson-Marchessault
Carrier-Roy-Amadio
Cotter-Howden-Kolesar

Hague-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Korczak
Hutton-Whitecloud

Hill

About the Canucks (15-7-1, 31 points): Give credit where credit is due. The Canucks were not a team anyone talked about challenging for the Pacific Division before the season. One thing the Golden Knights and Canucks have in common is that both teams have allowed 57 goals in 23 games. One thing the teams do not have in common is the total number of goals scored. The Canucks lead the NHL with 91 goals scored and a plus-34 goal differential. The Golden Knights rank No. 6 overall in goals scored with 74 and a goal differential of plus-17.

Another thing the teams do not have in common are 30 point scorers. J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, and Elias Pettersson have 30 or more points. Jack Eichel and William Karlsson lead the Golden Knights with 21 points.

Golden Knights to watch: Scoring goals can be streaky. Once a player scores their first goal after not scoring in quite some time, scoring could become easier. Michael Amadio, Ben Hutton, and Keegan Kolesar all scored Tuesday after long layoffs from scoring. Chandler Stephenson desperately needs a goal. His confidence seems shaken.

Time: 7:00 p.m. PST.
TV: Vegas 34 (Scripps Sports)
Streaming: KnightTime+
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340