The Vegas Golden Knights (7-6-0) continue their six-game homestand as they host the Minnesota Wild (9-3-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.
NOTES Vegas and Minnesota are meeting for the first time this season. The Golden Knights went 3-4-1 against the Wild last season.
BROADCAST INFORMATION TV: AT&T SportsNet Radio: FOX Sports 98.9/1340
MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT The Vegas Golden Knights will honor our military by wearing special jerseys during warm-ups. These jerseys will be signed, bundled with the nameplates and available for auction starting at 5:45 PM. The auction will conclude in the third period when the clock hits 10 minutes. A limited number of warm-up pucks will be able for sale both online and in arena. Jerseys will be available for viewing after warmups at section 11/12. Fans can bid by visiting military.givesmart.com or texting Military to 76278.
LAST TIME OUT Reilly Smith scored two goals in the third period to propel the Golden Knights to a 4-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena. The win gave Vegas six victories in its last eight games and opened a six-game homestand with an exclamation point. Evgenii Dadonov and Alex Pietrangelo also scored in the win while Shea Theodore , Jonathan Marchessault and William Carrier notched two assists each.
OPPOSITION UPDATE Minnesota sits in first place in the Central Division with 18 points in 12 games. The Wild are riding a four-game win streak during which they've scored five goals in each contest. On Wednesday night, the Wild used a three-point performance from Kevin Fiala (1G, 2A) to defeat the Arizona Coyotes, 5-2.
Kirill Kaprizov has a team-high 10 points (3G, 7A) through 12 games. Ryan Hartman leads the Wild in goals with six while Marcus Foligno sits second with five tallies. Mats Zuccarello has notched nine points (3G, 6A) in his eight games. Cam Talbot has stood tall in net with a 7-2-0 record.
WHEN LAST WE MET… The Golden Knights and Wild met eight times in the 2020-21 regular season and Vegas posted a 3-4-1 record in those games. Vegas defeated Minnesota in seven games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round last season. Mattias Janmark registered his first NHL hat trick in Game 7.
VGK SCORING LEADERS Chandler Stephenson - 13 points (5G, 8A) Jonathan Marchessault - 10 points (6G, 4A) Reilly Smith - 8 points (4G, 4A) Nicolas Roy - 8 points (2G, 6A) Alex Pietrangelo - 7 points (3G, 4A)
A VEGAS VICTORY WOULD… - Mark the 181st win in franchise history - Give Vegas two wins in two games to start its homestand
KEYS TO THE GAME Depth Scoring: Head Coach Pete DeBoer has praised the third and fourth lines for their defensive effectiveness and ability to take on elevated roles. Those units will want to translate their defensive success to tangible results on the scoresheet.
Weather the Storm: The Wild scored twice in the first period Wednesday night and another three times in the second period against the Coyotes. Vegas has been good at weathering early storms from opponents and will likely have to do it again against Minnesota.
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