Golden Knights at Oilers
First place in the Pacific Division is on the line Monday when the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Edmonton Oilers, who have a hot goaltender on their hands. Mikko Koskinen doesn't garner headlines like Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl do, but stopping 97-of-99 shots in his last three games will get a goaltender noticed.
"There's probably one reason why we win the game - our goaltending," Alex Chiasson told the media after Edmonton's 4-1 victory over Columbus on Saturday. "At this time of year, the way the standings are, every game is meaningful. You would think maybe we would be on our toes a little bit more." Oilers coach Dave Tippett has dispensed minutes equally among his goaltenders this season with Mike Smith playing 2,098 minutes, 53 seconds and Koskinen 2,054:15 while Koskinen enjoys statistical advantages in goals-against average (2.75 to 2.94) and save percentage (.917 to .903). Vegas took a two-point lead on Edmonton after Shea Theodore scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:10 remaining in a 5-3 victory at Calgary on Sunday. The Golden Knights have allowed five power-play goals in their last four games, a troubling trend with the Oilers boasting the league's top power play by a wide margin at 29.6 percent.
TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, Sportsnet West
ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (38-24-8): Max Pacioretty scored his team-leading 32nd goal Sunday - his second in three games - while his 66 points also lead the club. Defenseman Nick Holden had a goal and an assist for his fourth career two-point game and first since 2016-17, giving him 14 points this season. Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 11-4-1 with a 2.31 GAA and .924 SP against Edmonton, will likely take the net after Robin Lehner made 19 saves against Calgary.
ABOUT THE OILERS (37-24-8): McDavid scored Saturday and has 15 of his 96 points this season in eight games since missing six with a quad injury. Draisaitl paces the league with 110 points and is on pace to record 131, which would be the most since Mario Lemieux totaled 161 in 1995-96. Oscar Klefbom returned Saturday to help bolster the blue line after missing nine games with a shoulder injury and saw 22:11 of ice time.
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton has the second-best penalty-killing unit in the league at 84.8 percent.
2. Vegas leads the NHL in shots per game at 34.3 while allowing the third-fewest at 29.4.
3. The clubs have split two meetings this season with McDavid and Golden Knights D Shea Theodore each scoring twice.