Tough Golden Knights Road Trip Begins vs. New Jersey Devils

The Vegas Golden Knights are coming off a perfect week in which they earned six of a possible six points, all in regulation. The Golden Knights went 5-2 in their seven home games in January.

The next four games may be the toughest stretch of the season. The Golden Knights have four road games in six days before the All-Star break. All four of the games are back-to-back scenarios for the Golden Knights.

First up are the New Jersey Devils tonight. The Devils are 23-18-3 and have 49 points on the season. The Golden Knights are fortunate to play the Devils without Jack Hughes who has 45 points in 32 games. Jesper Bratt leads the Devils with 47 points and the Golden Knights will see a familiar foe in Timo Meier. Meier signed an extension worth over $70 million for eight seasons and has 17 points in 31 games.

Vitek Vanecek is the expected starter in goal and is 15-7-2 with a 3.22 GAA and .885 SV%.

The Devils are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games and have won just two of their last seven games.

Logan Thompson will start tonight’s game and was announced as the NHL’s third star of the week. Thompson was 3-0 with a 1.34 GAA and .956 SV% last week.

Adin Hill is expected to start Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders.

Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone had big weeks for the Golden Knights. Marchessault scored a goal in each of the games last week. Stone had a hat trick in Monday’s game against the Predators and five points last week.

The Golden Knights are on the opposite side of last Thursday’s game against the New York Rangers. The Rangers had a home game last Tuesday, traveled to Vegas on Wednesday, and played the game against the Golden Knights. The Golden Knights played last Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, traveled to the East Coast on Sunday, and will play tonight against the Devils. It is very challenging to cross three time zones with less than 48 hours between games.

It may take a while for the Golden Knights to find their game. Expect the Devils to play with a lot of pace early as the Golden Knights are trying to find their legs.

Similar to last season, the Golden Knights’ last four games before the All-Star break are on the road. The Golden Knights went 0-2-2 on last season’s four-game road trip before the All-Star break. That was part of a skid when the team went 1-5-2 before last season’s All-Star Break.

Four or more points on this tough road trip would be a great way to end January.

How to watch
Time: 4:00 P.M. PST.
TV: Vegas 34
Stream: KnightTime+
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340