Stars at Golden Knights
Linemates William Karlsson and NHL First Star of the Week Jonathan Marchessault have come up aces in the Vegas Golden Knights' second five-game winning streak of the season. Karlsson has scored at least once and recorded multi-point performances in each victory and Marchessault has collected a goal and two assists in each of the last three contests heading into Tuesday's home tilt versus the Dallas Stars.
"I've been scoring so many goals lately, so for sure I'm playing the best hockey of my life right now,” Karlsson told the Las Vegas Sun. The 24-year-old Swede netted his team-best 13th goal in 16 contests in Saturday's 4-2 win at Arizona, putting him on pace for 48 tallies in 2017-18 after totaling 15 while playing in back-to-back 81-game seasons in the last two years. While Karlsson and Marchessault have aided the Golden Knights' second-ranked offense (3.68 goals per game), the Stars answered being shut out with their second six-goal performance in four outings with a 6-4 triumph versus Calgary. Tyler Seguin recorded his seventh hat trick in a Dallas sweater in that contest and also tallied in the Stars' 2-1, season-opening loss to Vegas on Oct. 6.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, AT&TSportsNet-Rocky Mountains (Vegas)
ABOUT THE STARS (12-10-1): Alexander Radulov has paid significant dividends since signing a five-year, $31.25 million contract in early July. The 31-year-old Russian posted his fifth multi-point performance of the season when he scored and set up a goal versus the Flames to increase his point total to 18 (seven goals, 11 assists) over his last 14 games. Fellow offseason acquisition Ben Bishop, he of the six-year, $29.5 million contract, is just 2-6-0 with a 4.04 goals-against average and .872 save percentage on the road.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (15-6-1): James Neal scored and set up a goal in two consecutive games before being held off the scoresheet against the Coyotes, but looks to rebound versus a Dallas club against which he scored twice in the season opener. The 30-year-old Neal, who was selected in the second round of the 2005 draft by the Stars, has four goals and seven assists in his last 11 encounters with Dallas. Malcolm Subban, who is expected to receive his first career start versus the Stars, owns a 4-0-0 mark, 1.87 goals-against average and .935 save percentage this season.
OVERTIME
1. Vegas has forced an early departure of the opposition's starting goaltender in three consecutive contests.
2. Dallas has dropped five straight on the road and is 3-8-1 away from home this season.
3. Vegas holds a pair of five-game winning streaks this season, matching the total by first-year teams during the NHL's first 99 seasons (1926-27 New York Rangers, 1979-80 Edmonton Oilers).