Avalanche at Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights rapidly are rewriting the NHL's record book with respect to expansion teams, as they became the first club in the 100-year history of the league to win seven of its first eight games in its inaugural season. The Golden Knights look to match the longest winning streak by an expansion team when they vie for their fifth straight victory on Friday against the visiting Colorado Avalanche.
"To be honest, it doesn't feel like we're an expansion team," forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare told reporters. "We just try to work every game, shift after shift. Some nights, maybe that won't work. But so far, it has for seven of them." Bellemare scored what proved to be the winning goal late in the second period as Vegas improved to 5-1-0 on its seven-game homestand with Tuesday's 4-2 triumph over Chicago. Colorado will get a look at both of those clubs as it opens a back-to-back at T-Mobile Arena before hosting the Blackhawks on Saturday. Matt Nieto would love to repeat his latest performance in either tilt, as he helped the Avalanche snap a three-game losing streak with a hat trick in Tuesday's 5-3 victory over Dallas.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, TVA, Altitude (Colorado), AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain (Vegas)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (5-4-0): Defenseman Tyson Barrie notched an assist versus the Stars to extend his point streak to a career-high six games. Blake Comeau's point streak resides at just two contests, as he followed up a goal in a 4-3 loss to St. Louis on Oct. 19 with three assists against Dallas while playing in his 650th career game. Semyon Varlamov turned aside 34 shots, marking the third straight start in which he made at least 30 saves.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (7-1-0): Vegas has enjoyed success with three different goaltenders, as injuries to Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban has forced rookie Oscar Dansk into action. "We were playing a minor-league goalie, but like we talk about all the time, the next man stepped up and did the job," coach Gerard Gallant told reporters following Dansk's 29-save performance versus the Blackhawks. "It's been unbelievable. Everything has gone our way." That includes an improvement on the power play, as William Karlsson scored versus Chicago to give Vegas four man-advantage goals in its last three games.
OVERTIME
1. Vegas is bidding to match the longest winning streak by a team at any point in its inaugural season, a mark set by the New York Rangers in 1926-27 and equaled by Edmonton in 1979-80.
2. Colorado boasts five players with a team-leading three goals - C Matt Duchene, RW Sven Andrighetto, LW Gabriel Landeskog, C Alexander Kerfoot and RW Nail Yakupov.
3. The Golden Knights will begin a six-game road trip in New York with back-to-back contests against the Islanders on Monday and Rangers the following night.