Vancouver Canucks vs. Vegas Golden Knights: NHL Odds, Prediction
This is the third of four meetings between these teams, with Vegas heading to Vancouver on April 3.
Canucks vs Golden Knights Betting Analysis
The Golden Knights lead the season series 2-0. On Nov. 16 at Rogers Arena, Vegas was a 5-2 winner. Erik Haula scored the go-ahead goal at 6:27 of the third, and Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith (empty-netter) added on after that. Vancouver was outshot 30-21 but didn’t commit a single penalty. Maxime Legace was in net for the Golden Knights and Jacob Markstrom for the Canucks. Brock Boeser (now out injured) and Bo Horvat scored for Vancouver.
On Feb. 23 in Las Vegas, the Golden Knights won 6-3. William Karlsson scored two goals and Reilly Smith had three assists. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 shots. The Canucks got goals from Sven Baertschi, Thomas Vanek and Daniel Sedin. Anders Nilsson allowed five goals on 25 shots before being pulled for Markstrom.
The Golden Knights are one of the best home teams in the NHL – some chalk that up to the “Vegas flu” on opposing teams. The thinking goes that visiting players are out on the Strip late the night before and thus not quite 100 per cent come game time. Teams have taken different approaches on how to handle that. For example, the Anaheim Ducks flew into Vegas the morning of their Feb. 19 game and won 2-0. That’s obviously not feasible for all teams.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks (25-38-9) have already been eliminated from playoff contention and are in danger of falling to the Pacific Division basement on a season-high six-game losing streak. They are in a stretch of seven of eight games on the road. The one at home was Saturday, a 5-3 defeat to San Jose – at least Vancouver scored as it hadn’t in the previous three games. Markstrom allowed four goals on 29 shots to fall to 18-25-6 with a 2.77 GAA and .910 save percentage. His last win was March 5. Sam Gagner had two assists in the loss. It’s been a disappointing season for the 28-year-old as he has only 27 points after 50 points a season ago with Columbus. Defenceman Chris Tanev returned to Vancouver lineup for his first game since breaking his leg Feb. 8 against Tampa Bay. The Canucks are 1-10 in their past 11 games after allowing at least five goals in their previous outing.
Vegas Golden Knights
As good as Vegas (46-21-5) has been at home, it took a four-game losing streak at T-Mobile Arena into Sunday’s game against Calgary and won 4-0. All four goals were in the second period, and Karlsson had three of them for a natural hat trick. The 25-year-old has to be the NHL’s most improved player as he has 39 goals and 65 points after just six goals and 25 points in 81 games last year with Columbus. Fleury stopped 42 shots for his fourth shutout of the season. The Quebec native is now 12th on the NHL’s all-time wins list, tied with former Red Wing Chris Osgood with 401. Next up is Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr at 403.
