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Vegas Golden Knights: Opportunity awaits in injury-ravaged Pacific

By Andrew Steele-Davis

EDMONTON, AB - FEBRUARY 8: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers lines up for a face off against Kyle Turris #8 of the Nashville Predators on February 8, 2020, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB - FEBRUARY 8: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers lines up for a face off against Kyle Turris #8 of the Nashville Predators on February 8, 2020, at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Sometimes in life you need a large slice of luck and the Vegas Golden Knights may well have lady luck on their side right now.

Entrenched in an ultra-competitive but poor Pacific Division, the Vegas Golden Knights will need to slug it out in order to come out on top.

However, the hockey gods may well be smiling down upon them right now.

Because, just days after Brock Boeser went down for the Vancouver Canucks, it was announced today that the Edmonton Oilers will be without face of the franchise Connor McDavid for 2-3 weeks with a left quad injury.

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Although it is only a short period of time, it is a crushing blow for the Oilers who rely on McDavid along with Leon Draisaitl for the majority of their offense.

Through 55 games this season, McDavid has 30 goals and 51 assists for 81 points, while the Oilers have averaged just 2.17 Goals For Per Game in 41 games without their superstar, as opposed to 2.88 Goals For Per Game with McDavid in the lineup.

As a result, the Oilers will need the likes of James Neal to step up to the plate and produce, although it is mission impossible to replace a player of McDavid’s jaw-dropping ability.

And the Canucks are also facing the reality of being without stud forward Brock Boeser for a while, after the wing suffered an upper-body injury on Saturday.

Both Boeser and McDavid are hugely significant players for their respective teams, and it remains to be seen how the Canucks and the Oilers cope in their absence.

But, for the Golden Knights, this is a real opportunity to now take advantage.

With the Arizona Coyotes also slumping, there is a path over the next few weeks for the Knights to fatten up their record and seize control in the Pacific Division.

Heading into today’s showdown with the Minnesota Wild, Vegas is third in the Pacific Division and just three points off the first placed Canucks.

Although they face a hellish slate of games in February, plus the ninth toughest remaining schedule in the entire NHL, the Golden Knights are also starting to get healthy at the right time.

Franchise center William Karlsson is set to make his return tonight, while rookie Cody Glass will play in the AHL this weekend in order to recover some sharpness in the wake of an upper-body injury.

So, there is now a real opportunity for the Knights to gather some momentum and take advantage of the fact that two of their rivals have lost key pieces to injury.

Like the Dodgers, Golden Knights need to go all in. dark. Next

After all, luck is massive part of sports and the Vegas Golden Knights must ensure that they make this good fortune count.

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