Capitals at Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights began a difficult nine-game stretch with a thrilling victory last time out and face another stiff challenge Saturday, when they host the red-hot Washington Capitals. The expansion Golden Knights scored four goals on the power play Tuesday, including defenseman Shea Theodore's winner with 2.3 seconds remaining in the third period, to knock off NHL-best Tampa Bay 4-3 and extend their point streak to nine games.
“This definitely builds confidence every time you win a hockey game when you’re playing great teams,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. “Anybody we beat is a big win for us. I just think the more we keep playing well and the more we win hockey games, the more confidence our guys get.” The Golden Knights are 7-0-1 in their last eight contests as they face the Capitals, who registered a season-low 17 shots and coughed up a lead in the third period to fall 3-2 in overtime at Arizona on Friday but earned a point for the ninth time in 10 games (8-1-1). Evgeny Kuznetsov notched a goal and an assist to take over the team lead in points with 38 - one better than captain Alex Ovechkin. Braden Holtby (20-7-0, .919 save percentage), who has won four straight games, is expected to be in net for Washington on Saturday after being rested against Arizona.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCSN Washington, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Vegas)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (22-12-2): Ovechkin has been kept off the scoresheet in the last two games after recording four points in his previous two contests and remains tied for the league lead with 23 goals. T.J. Oshie scored his 11th goal of the season Friday in his second game back from an upper-body injury and defenseman John Carlson registered his fifth point in five contests with an assist. Washington has cooled off with the man advantage of late, going 1-for-16 over its last seven games, and has allowed five power-play tallies in the last four contests.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (22-9-2): Vegas has been well-balanced offensively all season as it possesses six players with between 24 and 31 points , including Jonathan Marchessault (12 goals, 19 assists). “It’s not about James Neal. It’s not about Marchessault,” Gallant told reporters. “It’s about 20 guys doing things the right way, and that’s why we’re having success.” Neal tops the Golden Knights with 17 goals while Erik Haula has been red-hot with six goals this month and five - along with five assists - during his seven-game point streak
OVERTIME
1. Washington LW Jakub Vrana has recorded two goals and two assists in his last five games while posting a plus-3 rating during that stretch.
2. Vegas G Marc-Andre Fleury, who has stopped 94-of-100 shots since returning from a concussion, is 20-12-2 lifetime versus Washington.
3. Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom has collected nine points in his last 10 games and is five goals shy of 200 for his career.