Golden Knights at Oilers
The Vegas Golden Knights are surging up the Pacific Division standings and have a chance for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history when they cap off a three-game road trip with a visit to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. Since absorbing their worst defeat of the season in a 7-2 loss at Calgary on Nov. 19, Vegas has ripped off five straight victories.
The Golden Knights squandered a two-goal lead in the third period at Vancouver on Thursday night before William Karlsson scored a short-handed goal to keep the streak intact. "That never-quit attitude has been there for our team, has been there during this streak, and we've seen how well we can play when we play the right way," Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty said. The Oilers fell to visiting Vegas 6-3 on Nov. 18, a loss that led to the dismissal of coach Todd McLellan and the hiring of Ken Hitchcock. Edmonton is 3-1-1 since making the change, including back-to-back victories over Dallas and Los Angeles entering the finale of a three-game homestand.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, AT&T-Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain (Las Vegas), CBC, Sportsnet, Sportsnet1, Sportsnet360, CITY (Edmonton)
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (14-12-1): Pacioretty scored at least 30 goals five times in six seasons before dipping to 17 in 2017-18 with Montreal, but he has rediscovered his scoring touch after a slow start in his first year with Vegas. Pacioretty scored twice in the 4-3 victory at Vancouver to give him eight goals over the past seven games. "Patch has been good. He's been hot," coach Gerard Gallant said. He's getting a good feel around the net. Reilly gave him an excellent pass there on that one goal. He's playing real good, he's going to the net and he's in his groove right now."
ABOUT THE OILERS (12-11-2): Edmonton has played more disciplined under Hitchcock and one of the beneficiaries has been defenseman Oscar Klefbom. In Tuesday's 1-0 overtime victory over Dallas, Klefbom netted his first goal of the season and followed that up with the game-winning tally with just under 2 1/2 minutes to play in Thursday's win over the Kings. "It has been good timing for my first two goals here," said Klefbom, who has five points in his last three games. "It was a big win for us. For me, personally, it is nice to get the goals going and it has been good timing, too."
OVERTIME
1. Oilers captain Connor McDavid has three goals and six assists in five games versus Vegas.
2. Golden Knights F Jonathan Marchessault has three goals and five points in his last four against the Oilers.
3. Edmonton claimed LW Valentin Zykov off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes.