Golden Knights at Kings
The Vegas Golden Knights have a firm hold on first place in the Pacific Division, but they'll look to strengthen their grip on the top spot in the Western Conference on Monday as they visit the Los Angeles Kings for the opener of a home-and-home series. Vegas, which is coming off a 5-2-0 homestand, saw its lead atop the conference shrink to one point with Nashville's victory over St. Louis on Sunday.
William Karlsson continued his torrid pace in Friday's 6-3 triumph over Vancouver, scoring two goals and setting up another to give him points in nine of his last 10 contests. Los Angeles hopes to salvage the finale of a three-game homestand during which it has fallen out of a playoff spot in the West. The Kings dropped a 4-3 decision to Edmonton on Saturday and sit three points behind Anaheim for third place in the Pacific and trail Calgary by two points for the second wild card. Los Angeles welcomed back its leading scorer from last season in the defeat as Jeff Carter returned after missing 55 games because of a torn tendon in his left ankle.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Vegas), FS West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (41-16-4): Ryan Reaves is expected to make his debut with the team Monday after being acquired from Pittsburgh in a three-team trade over the weekend - a deal that caught him off guard. "I was obviously surprised," the rugged 31-year-old right wing, who recorded four goals, four assists and 84 penalty minutes in 58 games with the Penguins, told Vegas' website. "It's a business and here I am. I'm glad to be here." James Neal and defenseman Shea Theodore have missed three and four contests, respectively, because of illness with the former landing on injured reserve as a result.
ABOUT THE KINGS (33-24-5): Carter recorded four shots and a plus-1 rating in 17:36 of ice time Saturday in his first appearance since Oct. 18. "I thought he skated pretty well," coach John Stevens told the Los Angeles Times. "His execution is going to get better over time, but for being off that amount of time, I thought he did well." Los Angeles received a contribution from one of its newest members in the loss to the Oilers as Tobias Rieder scored his first goal in two games since being acquired from Arizona on Wednesday.
OVERTIME
1. Kings RW Dustin Brown is two assists shy of 300 for his career while C Nate Thompson's next appearance will be his 600th in the NHL.
1. Vegas has assigned C Stefan Matteau and RW Tomas Hyka, who scored his first NHL goal Friday, to Chicago of the American Hockey League.
3. Los Angeles D Paul LaDue, who recorded two goals and an assist in seven games earlier this season, was a healthy scratch Saturday after being recalled from Ontario of the AHL prior to the game.