Golden Knights at Canucks
The Vegas Golden Knights have seen the wheels come off after a blistering start to the season, with the expansion club being humbled in its last game. After being taken to task by one Pacific Division rival, Vegas will try its luck against another as it visits the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday looking to avert a seventh loss in nine contests.
"We weren't sharp, we weren't good, we weren't playing our game," Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland told reporters on the heels of Tuesday's 8-2 shellacking by Edmonton. "We sat back, we weren't in their faces like we normally play and a lot of us weren't ready to go." David Perron has been ready to go all season and carries a five-game point streak (one goal, six assists) into Thursday's tilt. The Canucks are headed back to British Columbia after splitting a four-game road trip against Pacific rivals, a trek that was capped by Tuesday's 3-2 win at first-place Los Angeles. Bo Horvat, who will play in his 250th career game on Thursday, scored against the Kings to pull into a tie with Derek Dorsett for the team lead in goals with seven.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Vegas), Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (10-6-1): Maxime Lagace fully participated in Wednesday's practice to silence suspicion that Vegas' goaltending injury carousel had taken yet another unfortunate turn after the 24-year-old exited Tuesday's contest with nine minutes to play. Fellow netminder Malcolm Subban participated in a team practice for the first time since being injured against St. Louis on Oct. 21. "We're pretty close," the 23-year-old Subban told reporters. "That's all I know right now. I'm still talking with the coaches and the trainers. It's only one practice."
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (9-7-2): Captain Henrik Sedin has picked up the pace after a disastrous start to the season, collecting a goal and an assist against Los Angeles to give him two of each in his last five games after mustering just three points in his previous 13. Twin Daniel hasn't shared in Henrik's recent run of success, as the former has been kept off the scoresheet in each of the last three games to remain stuck on 994 career points. Fellow forward Brock Boeser, who notched his team-leading 15th point with an assist versus the Kings, has recorded just two in his last five games on the heels of a four-point outburst against Pittsburgh on Nov. 4.
OVERTIME
1. Vancouver G Jacob Markstrom has yielded 13 goals during his last four starts (1-3-0) after surrendering two tallies or fewer in each of his six previous outings.
2. Golden Knights LW James Neal has scored a goal in back-to-back contests and has registered three tallies and an assist in his last five games.
3. The Canucks scored twice on the power play in their last game after going 2-for-21 over their previous six.