Golden Knights at Ducks
The Vegas Golden Knights and host Anaheim Ducks begin the unofficial second half of their seasons Friday in a matchup of first- and second-division teams in the Pacific. Vegas (46 points) is tied at the top with Arizona - four points ahead of fifth-place Vancouver in the competitive division - while Anaheim (34) is in a three-way tie for last with San Jose and Los Angeles.
The Golden Knights entered the Christmas break on a down note, losing to Colorado 7-3 on Monday as Marc-Andre Fleury matched a career high for goals allowed. "It's a real good time for the break,'' Vegas coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. "We've been playing real hard and real well before. (Monday) was a stinker, but we'll get by it and get back to good hockey on the 27th." Anaheim was missing three of its four leading scorers in Sunday's 5-1 loss at the New York Rangers with Rickard Rakell (upper-body injury), Ryan Getzlaf (flu), and Jakob Silfverberg (flu) all sitting out. The Golden Knights have won five straight meetings after a 5-2 victory Oct. 27 and has won eight of the nine encounters since joining the league for the 2017-18 season.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain (Vegas), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (20-14-6): Max Pacioretty has team highs of 16 goals and 37 points after recording 11 points (six goals) in his last eight games. Mark Stone - Pacioretty's linemate - also has 11 points in the past eight contests, giving him 35. Fleury is 14-4-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average and .927 save percentage against Anaheim.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (15-18-4): Coach Dallas Eakins told reporters he's hopeful Rakell's injury won't be long-term while Getzlaf, who missed two games, and Silfverberg are expected back Friday. Silfverberg, Rakell and Getzlaf all have 25 points with Silfverberg boasting a team-high 13 goals, and Rakell and Getzlaf owning 10 apiece. Adam Henrique (11 goals) scored in each of the two games prior to Sunday.
OVERTIME
1. Fleury needs one win to tie Curtis Joseph for sixth on the NHL's all-time list with 454.
2. Anaheim G John Gibson is 1-7-1, 3.09, .920 against Vegas.
3. Vegas boasts five double-digit scorers with RW Reilly Smith (14), RW Stone (13) F Jonathan Marchessault (12) and C William Karlsson (10) joining LW Pacioretty.