Due to the way the NHL schedule is set up, the Utah Hockey Club and the Vegas Golden Knights will face each other for the third time in November and for the final regular season meeting on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights have won the first two games against their new neighbors. Vegas won the first game 4-3 on November 2 on home ice, with Brett Howden scoring the overtime goal. Then, on November 15, they came back from a 2-0 deficit in the second period to win 4-2 in Salt Lake City.
Both teams will be playing the second game of a back-to-back on Saturday.
Vegas won 4-3 against Winnipeg on Friday night, thanks to two goals by Howden and Ivan Barbashev, while Utah lost 4-3 in overtime to the Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers but still earned a point.
Howden scored the game-winner with 4:05 left, tapping in a pass from William Karlsson by the left post. The Golden Knights improved to 9-2-0 at home this season.
This win came just one day after Vegas returned from a five-game road trip, which included stops in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Philadelphia, and Denver. Despite the long trip, the Golden Knights played one of their best home games of the season.
“We’ve been away from home for a long time,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. “I think our guys are excited to get back here playing. I liked our energy. I thought we played really well coming off the road.”
Karlsson, who played in his 700th career NHL game, added, “We’ve been playing pretty well. Long road trip and coming home for a back-to-back. I think we looked pretty good (Friday) and hopefully can come out the same way (Saturday).”
Vegas will next host the Oilers on Tuesday, giving them a brief break.
Utah, despite blowing a 2-0 lead in the first period, managed to earn a point against the Oilers on Friday. Lawson Crouse tied the game 3-3 early in the third period. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins won the game for Edmonton at 1:18 of overtime with a breakaway goal, beating Karel Vejmelka.
Edmonton scored three goals in the second period, including power-play goals by Leon Draisaitl and captain Connor McDavid, to take a 3-2 lead before Crouse’s goal.
“Finally,” Crouse said when asked about scoring his fourth goal of the season. “I think it just speaks volumes to our character in our room, and there’s no quit in our team. We went right to the end.”
This was Utah’s fifth loss in their last seven games (2-4-1).
“Take the positives from this, move on and get ready for a big matchup tomorrow,” Crouse said. “We’ve got to move on quickly here. The goal is to come away with two points, not one.”
