Vegas Golden Knights: Three-must win games on last leg of road trip

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NASHVILLE, TN – NOVEMBER 27: Matt Irwin #52 of the Nashville Predators battles for the puck against Tomas Nosek #92 of the Vegas Golden Knights at Bridgestone Arena on November 27, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images) /

It is the bye week for the Vegas Golden Knights who will return to the ice on Friday before finishing off this long road trip.

Currently on a swing that will take in a total of eight road games, the Vegas Golden Knights will be hoping to right some wrongs following a 1-2-1 start to the road trip.

Of course, the 2020 NHL All-Star Game broke up the road trip in to two parts, and the Knights need to make sure that the second-half is better than the first.

With four games of the road trip left and entrenched in a competitive Pacific Division, the Golden Knights need to start adding some consistency to their game in order to unlock their true potential down the stretch.

And Vegas also needs a strong end to this road trip or they could risk being in a sticky position by the time they finally return to T-Mobile Arena on Feb. 8.

So, on that note, let’s go through the three games that we consider to be really must-win on this road trip…

RALEIGH, NC – JANUARY 21: Justin Williams #14 of the Carolina Hurricanes scores a goal on an assist by Teuvo Teravainen #86 and celebrates with Andrei Svechnikov #37 during an NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets on January 21, 2020 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. Golden Knights @ Carolina Hurricanes, Jan. 31

This will be the first game back for the Vegas Golden Knights after the All-Star break and the bye week, and it will be an intriguing contest to watch.

For starters, new Head Coach Peter DeBoer has had a week or so to work on systems and how he wants to do things, although his players haven’t been around.

But I suspect we will see some slight changes to how the Golden Knights play on Friday, and we will also find out if having over a week off was a blessing or a curse.

The Hurricanes will be in the same boat too in terms of amount of time off, but it will be a tough test for Vegas.

Carolina is in a tense battle in the Metro Division for a playoff spot so they will be a desperate hockey team too, while they boast a bucketload of young talent and potent firepower.

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