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Vegas Heads to Edmonton for a Pacific Divison Showdown

December 1, 2018, 11:28 AM ET [1 Comments]
Jeff Paul
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


It has been a successful road trip so far for the Vegas Golden Knights. After an 8-3 pummelling of the Chicago Blackhawks and a 4-3 back-and-forth win in Vancouver, the Knights arrive in Edmonton looking to extend their win streak to six games.

Edmonton underwent a big change since the last time the Golden Knights faced them. A head coaching change was made following the loss to Vegas. Out is former head coach Todd McClellan and in is future Hall of Fame coach Ken Hitchcock. Hitchcock has a reputation of being tough on his players, not allowing for some of the lapses and complacency recent Oiler teams have become known for, as evidenced by their 9-10-1 record prior to the change.

Hitchcock got the win in his debut against the San Jose Sharks, just two days after the Oilers lost to the Golden Knights. Since he took over the bench, the Oilers are 3-1-1. Hitchcock has the luxury of inheriting superstars Connor McDavid (13g, 21a), Leon Draisaitl (13g, 15a), and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (6g, 18a) which I guess you could say is pretty cool.

Vegas comes into town with a ton of momentum. They have won six of their last seven games, dating back to the 11/18 game against these Oilers and are currently on a five-game win streak. Three weeks ago, one would be hard-pressed to find someone that would predict this recent tear Vegas has been on, but their fan base remained hopeful. Those high hopes (see that Panic at the Disco reference) are being fulfilled by an electric second line who has produced points and had a hand in all five games of the win streak. It seems like addition by subtraction because the loss of Erik Haula brought the promotion of Cody Eakin to line two, which has woken up Max Pacioretty. Alex Tuch just continues to shine and Cody Eakin is tied with Pacioretty and Machessault for the team lead in goals (10).

It is impossible to write about the Golden Knights and not acknowledge the return of Nate Schmidt. He is the unquestioned number one defenseman of the Golden Knights and his loss for 20-games surely hurt the team. Without him, coach Gerard Gallant was unable to roll the defensive pairs to his liking (one offensive type with a more stay at home defenseman). Upon Schmidt's return, the defense pairs returned to last season's look, with Holden taking Luca Sbisa's vacated spot with Colin Miller.

Goaltending is one area where Vegas has far more certainty than Edmonton. Cam Talbot was supposed to be the Oilers' goalie of the future, but he has struggled to the tune of a 3.29 GAA and .889 SV%. Playing tonight in his place will be Mikko Koskinen who has outplayed him this season (7 wins, 2.26 GAA, .924 SV%). Vegas will most likely send out Marc-Andre Fleury who is on a tear and has already compiled five shutouts this season. Although backup Malcolm Subban needs to get reps and Fleury has too many miles to work so much, Vegas needs to ride this hot streak while they're on it. After seeing the early season struggle, Gallant will want a nice point buffer in the event of a future rough patch.

Coming into the game the Golden Knights sit in 4th place in the Pacific Divsion, tied with the Sharks for third in points, with one more game played. Edmonton is one spot and four points behind Vegas, but have two games in hand. The result of this game will have an impact on standings and playoff position. Although it is still early in the season, you always want to be in the top three and beat your division rivals.

Tonight's game kicks off at 7pm Pacific. The game will be broadcast regionally on AT&T Sportsnet and on Fox Sports Radio 98.9FM. You could also just head over to Twitter and follow along with me @VGK_BUZZ.

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