The Vegas Golden Knights have a big few weeks ahead and they have a chance to send a clear message to the rest of the Pacific Division and the Western Conference.
October is shaping up to be a tough opening month to the 2019-20 NHL regular season for the Vegas Golden Knights, although they have enjoyed a fantastic start after beating the San Jose Sharks in both games of a home-and-home double-header.
However, the slate only gets tougher from here starting with tonight as the 2-0-0 Boston Bruins visit the T-Mobile Arena in what is a tantalizing matchup of two teams looking to maintain their perfect start to the new season.
The Bruins of course reached the Stanley Cup Final last year and after a fairly quiet off-season, they look primed to make another deep run this season as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
Boston boast a redhot power play – it ranked third in the NHL in 2018-19 – and they have arguably the best top line in all of hockey at their disposal with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, although the latter has yet to register a point through two games.
Like the Golden Knights, the Bruins have a 100 percent record on the penalty kill so far this year while they have let in just one goal in two games thanks to their elite goaltending tandem featuring Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak, with the latter recording a 35-save shutout against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
It should be a fascinating battle between the Golden Knights and Boston tonight, with the Bruins able to both outfire and out-physical teams with ease while they know they can rely on either Rask or Halak in goal to give them a chance of winning every single night.
Vegas will then embark on their second road trip of the year on Thursday when they head to Arizona and, although the Coyotes are 0-2-0 to start the year, they only just missed the postseason in 2018-19 and should be much-improved this season following the blockbuster addition of Phil Kessel in the off-season.
Then, and perhaps what will be the Knights’ toughest test yet, the Calgary Flames will visit T-Mobile Arena on Saturday and last year’s Pacific Division and Western Conference champions look well equipped to defend their crowns in 2019-20.
Any team will be elite with magician Johnny Gaudreau on the roster – the forward has five points (two goals, three assists) in just two games – and the Flames are stacked throughout the lineup with the likes of Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano on the roster.
Their only question mark is their goaltending with David Rittich still needing to build a sustained body of work, but an early season divisional matchup between the Golden Knights and the Flames should be a good measuring stick for both teams.
After that the schedule in October doesn’t really get any easier with the likes of Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, an improved Philadelphia Flyers outfit and the Colorado Avalanche all coming up in the next couple of weeks.
But, the Vegas Golden Knights have been quick to highlight just how good they could be this year after outscoring the San Jose Sharks 9-2 in the opening two games of 2019-20, and October will be a good litmus test when it comes to accurately assessing the strengths and weaknesses of this roster as it is currently constituted.
A productive month against some high-end teams, including four divisional matchups, will set the tone for what the Golden Knights are hoping to go out and achieve in 2019-20.