The Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers have both won four games in a row and eight of their last 10.
One of these two teams will continue their strong run when they meet in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.
Ivan Barbashev scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season — and his first career overtime goal — to help the Golden Knights secure a 3-2 win in Winnipeg on Thursday night. Barbashev also had three assists in a 4-2 victory over the Oilers on Nov. 6 and scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Edmonton on Dec. 3.
Keegan Kolesar, who is from Brandon, Manitoba, scored a goal in his hometown to help Vegas complete their comeback over Winnipeg and improve to 8-1-2 in their last 11 road games.
“We were able to tie it up, then go down again, we stayed with it right to the very end,” Kolesar said. “We didn’t let it waver in any way in our play, played right to the whistle, and we were able to come up with two points.”
The Golden Knights likely owe some of their success to goaltender Adin Hill. Hill made 18 saves on Thursday night, improving his record to 11-2-2 in his last 15 starts. That includes stopping 27 shots in the first game against the Oilers and saving all 28 shots in their most recent match.
Hill will again face off against superstars Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Draisaitl scored a goal and had three assists, while McDavid picked up two assists in Edmonton’s dominant 7-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. To put it in perspective, 13 of Edmonton’s 18 skaters had at least one point in the win.
“Everyone was really good, but Leon really was at another level,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said about Draisaitl, who has 10 points (four goals, six assists) during his current four-game point streak.
McDavid has also been on fire, with a four-game point streak (two goals, seven assists), and has recorded points in 13 of his last 15 games.
The Oilers might be without defenseman Evan Bouchard on Saturday after he took a hard hit from Ryan Hartman with 3:30 left in the third period. Bouchard collided head-first with the net and crashed into the boards.
“We’ll fly home and get it checked out,” Knoblauch said. “Hopefully it’s something minor.”
Bouchard, who has played in all 29 games this season, was seen limping after the game but appeared to avoid a serious injury. He had missed only two games in the previous three seasons.
