Vegas Golden Knights vs. Arizona Coyotes: Date, Time, More
Hopefully the Vegas Golden Knights won’t have indulged in too much Thanksgiving turkey as they return home to take on the Arizona Coyotes today.
Coming into this game on the heels of that brilliant and important overtime win against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, the mission on the day after Thanksgiving for the Vegas Golden Knights will be to start building some momentum.
It won’t be easy, however. The Arizona Coyotes, who are riding a three-game point streak, have established themselves as a team who could make the postseason, and they currently sit 2nd in the Pacific Division with a record of 15-8-3.
They are 6-3-1 in their last ten outings and are also 8-3-2 on the road this year, and the Coyotes look the real deal through the first quarter of the season.
Their efforts have been spearheaded by Nick Schmaltz who leads the team in points with 19 (four goals, 15 assists), although it is fair to suggest that the Coyotes have got the job done by committee so far this season with nine players in double figures in points.
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Arizona’s success is built on their defense, however, which ranks 1st in the NHL in Goals Against Per Game, allowing an average of just 2.31 Goals Against Per Game.
Their offense hasn’t been clicking at the level you would maybe expect with Phil Kessel in the lineup, averaging at just a 2.73 clip per game.
And both of their special teams fall in the middle of the pack with the Coyotes’ penalty kill ranked 18th (81.1), while their power play is currently clicking at a 19.2 clip, which is ranked 13th in the NHL.
What Arizona lacks in high-octane offense they more than make up for with solid goaltending, however, with Darcy Kuemper 10-6-1 this season with a 2.03 Goals Against Average and a .932 Save Percentage.
And Kuemper’s backup, Antti Raanta, has also done his job when called upon with a 5-2-2 record with a 2.62 GAA and a .926 Sv%.
Arizona is just two points behind Edmonton in the Pacific so they will be looking to close that gap today, and their solid structure will provide the Knights with a tough test.
Speaking of the Vegas Golden Knights, today’s game is a huge opportunity to continue to gain some ground in the Pacific and build some momentum off that big win in Nashville.
Malcolm Subban will make his third consecutive start in net tonight with Marc-Andre Fleury away from the team, and our thoughts are certainly with the future Hall of Famer following the passing of his father.
Subban came up big in the win against the Predators, stopping 31 of 34 shots, and he’ll need to be at his best again tonight.
Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny are really starting to click after being reunited on the second line, and they all made huge contributions against the Predators.
The key to winning tonight for the Golden Knights will be a fast start and the ability to maintain that over a 60-minute period. They will also need to be clinical in-front of net given that the Coyotes don’t give up a plethora of chances.
This Season
This is the second meeting between the two teams this season and it was Arizona who came out on top on Oct, 10, cruising to a 4-1 victory on home ice.
Let’s hope for a different outcome today.
Let’s look at the projected lineups for both teams, per nhl.com…
Arizona Coyotes
Clayton Keller – Nick Schmaltz – Phil Kessel
Christian Dvorak – Derek Stepan – Vinnie Hinostroza
Barrett Hayton – Carl Soderberg – Conor Garland
Michael Grabner – Brad Richardson – Christian Fischer
Jakob Chychrun – Alex Goligoski
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Jason Demers
Ilya Lyubushkin – Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Antti Raanta, Aaron Ness
Injured: Lawson Crouse (upper body), Niklas Hjalmarsson (lower body)
Vegas Golden Knights
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Paul Stastny – Mark Stone
Alex Tuch – Cody Eakin – Cody Glass
William Carrier – Tomas Nosek – Ryan Reaves
Jon Merrill – Nick Holden
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Marc-Andre Fleury (personal leave), Deryk Engelland
This is a Pacific Division matchup and whatever team wins the most individual battles on the ice will come out on top, I believe.
Here is all the essential information you need to know prior to faceoff…
Time: 3:00 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas
TV Broadcast: AT&T Sportsnet (SAP available)
Radio: FOX Sports 98.9/1340 | Deportes Vegas 1460
Live Streaming: ESPN+ has a free 7-day trial that includes live streaming for this game on all your smart devices! Besides NHL games, ESPN+ features a selection of live games from MLB, MLS, Serie A, FA Cup, and EFL. Get in on the action with Live UFC Fight Nights, 30+ Top Rank Boxing cards, Grand Slam tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.
Next. Dramatic win in Nashville could be defining. dark
Finishing Off
On too many occasions this season the Vegas Golden Knights have taken two steps forward, only to take five back in the next game.
That can’t be the case tonight.
After claiming a huge and potentially season-defining win against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday, the Knights must now build on that momentum and go on a run.
If they can get the better of the Arizona Coyotes then that will leave them in a great position in the Pacific Division heading into the holidays, laying the platform for a run in the second quarter of the season.