7:07 pm
January 18

Golden Knights @ Canadiens

Who will WIN this matchup?

Vegas Golden Knights (25-19-6)

@ Montreal Canadiens (21-21-7)

 

Starting Goalies:

Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK): Confirmed

Carey Price (MON): Confirmed

 

Current odds:

Vegas Golden Knights: (-125)

Montreal Canadiens: (+105)

 

The Vegas Golden Knights endured an emotional 48 hours midweek following the dismissal of coach Gerard Gallant, but they managed to end a four-game losing streak in Peter DeBoer’s debut behind the bench. The Golden Knights will resume an eight-game road trip that sandwiches the All-Star break when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. Vegas had won four in a row before it was outscored 16-7 during the four-game slide but impressed DeBoer in the 4-2 victory at Ottawa on Thursday night. “It’s a good group. After a tough week and some hard days, it was nice to get a win and move past that,” DeBoer said. “There are some things we need to clean up, (but) there are way more positives than negatives here.”

The Canadiens have a renewed confidence and are trying to enter the All-Star break on a high note, rebounding from an eight-game slide (0-7-1) by winning three of their last four. “That’s the one goal we’ve got, to make the playoffs,” forward Ilya Kovalchuk said. “So we’re going to make a push, nobody is giving up in this locker room.”

Max Pacioretty never was selected to the All-Star Game during his lengthy tenure in Montreal despite scoring at least 30 goals five times in a span of six seasons, but he will represent Vegas at the gala event next weekend. Pacioretty leads the Golden Knights in goals (20) and points (46), surpassing his total of 40 in his first season with Vegas in 2018-19. The team received bad news Friday on top-line center William Karlsson, who is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Montreal signed Kovalchuk earlier this month in what smacked of a desperation move after he was waived by Los Angeles, but the former No. 1 overall pick is providing an offensive jolt. Kovalchuk had three goals and nine points in 17 games with the Kings but he has three tallies and four assists in seven games with the Canadiens after scoring twice in Thursday’s 4-1 victory at Philadelphia. Montreal needs to get its power play untracked, as it has converted on 3 of 32 opportunities.

Golden Knights G Marc-Andre Fleury is tied with New York Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist for fifth on the all-time list with 458.

Canadiens G Carey Price, who has permitted two goals in his last three starts, has split two decisions versus Vegas.

Golden Knights F Mark Stone has 10 goals and 20 points in 22 games versus Montreal.

4/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Montreal Canadiens