Golden Knights at Senators
The Vegas Golden Knights set expectations wildly high after their incredible run to the Stanley Cup Finals in the franchise's inaugural season two years ago. Gerard Gallant, the only coach the franchise has known, became a victim of those lofty aspirations after the Golden Knights fired him one day in advance of Thursday's matchup at the Ottawa Senators.
Vegas came out of the Christmas break on a roll with a five-game point streak and four straight wins, but a four-game slide since that point led to Gallant's ouster on Wednesday. "In order for our team to reach its full potential, we determined a coaching change was necessary," Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said in a statement. "Our team is capable of more than we have demonstrated this season." Peter DeBoer, fired by San Jose last month, was named as a replacement for Gallant and will be behind the bench as Vegas makes its second stop on a season-high eight-game road trip. The Senators have come unglued since the three-day break at Christmas, losing all eight games (0-4-4) and suffering their third straight defeat beyond regulation in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime setback versus Chicago.
TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain, RDS2, TSN 5
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (24-19-2): DeBoer guided San Jose to a first-round win over Vegas in last season's playoffs, a series capped by a stunning comeback in Game 7. "Well I think he’s always been a coach that always has a lot of respect from his players," McCrimmon said of DeBoer, who guided the Sharks and New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Finals. "I think he relates well with players. He’s an intelligent guy. Teams have always been very strong (on) special teams." He was 198-129-34 in four-plus seasons with San Jose.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (16-22-8): Ottawa earned a point in three straight games while yielding seven goals, a dramatic improvement after it was pierced for a staggering 26 tallies over the previous five losses. "We come out with a game plan and we execute it in the first period, and we seem to slowly get away from it," said forward Connor Brown, who scored one goal and set up another in Tuesday night's loss. Rookie netminder Marcus Hogberg has made three straight starts, fueling speculation that Craig Anderson will be traded.
OVERTIME
1. Golden Knights F Mark Stone will return to Ottawa for the first time since he was traded to Vegas 11 months ago.
2. Senators leading scorer Anthony Duclair has only two assists over his last eight games.
3. Vegas F Jonathan Marchessault, who returned from a five-game absence Tuesday, had the decisive tally in a 3-2 shootout win over Ottawa on Oct. 17.