Coyotes at Golden Knights
The inaugural season of the Vegas Golden Knights has been an undeniable success on multiple levels, with coach Gerard Gallant's charges likely receiving little in the way of rebuttal from the Arizona Coyotes. The playoff-bound Golden Knights aim to complete a five-game season sweep of the visiting Coyotes on Wednesday when the Pacific Division rivals reconvene at T-Mobile Arena.
"I think it's blown by pretty fast actually. It's been a fun ride. Obviously winning helps it. I mean, it's been great since day one," said forward William Karlsson (team-best 40 goals), who joined Jonathan Marchessault by scoring a goal and setting up two others in Monday's 4-1 win over Colorado. Karlsson has recorded 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in his past 17 contests and Marchessault has three goals and four assists during his five-game point streak for Pacific Division-leading Vegas, which is 3-0-2 in its last five outings. Although Arizona will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight season, the team improved to 14-7-2 in its last 23 contests and 2-2-0 on its six-game road trip with Monday's 4-1 triumph over Tampa Bay. "I think we're trying to treat every game like a playoff game and we kind of get up for that," said Clayton Keller, who had an assist to extend his point streak to nine games (five goals, eight assists) before adding his franchise-best 23rd goal by a rookie.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Arizona-Plus, AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountains (Vegas)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (26-39-11): Antti Raanta is in the midst of a sizzling stretch, improving to 10-2-1 in his last 13 outings after his 19-save performance versus the Lightning. "Everybody was dialed in today to play the game. That's a really good thing. That's how we have been playing almost all of 2018," the 28-year-old Finn said. Brendan Perlini scored to give him points in three of his last four contests after being held off the scoresheet in 17 of his previous 21 games.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (48-21-7): Marc-Andre Fleury improved his save percentage to .952 in his last nine starts after turning aside 28 shots against the Avalanche. "I think we've been hungry all year. It's something I want to achieve every year because it's the most fun hockey to play in," said the three-time Stanley Cup champion, who stopped 58 of 61 shots to win both of his outings against Arizona this season. Marchessault has recorded five (two goals, three assists) of his team-best 72 points versus the Coyotes, highlighted by scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 4-2 victory on Nov. 25.
OVERTIME
1. Vegas LW David Perron (team-leading 50 assists) has been held off the scoresheet in four straight outings after collecting one goal and eight assists in his previous eight.
2. The Coyotes are 5-for-11 on the power play in the last four games overall, but just 1-for-12 versus the Golden Knights this season.
3. Vegas LW James Neal has three goals against Arizona this season, including an overtime tally in a 2-1 win on Oct. 7.