The Vegas Golden Knights will try for their second double-digit point streak of the season when they meet the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night in Las Vegas.
The Golden Knights, who lead the NHL with 45 points, showed no signs of a hangover after winning their first Stanley Cup, opening this season with a 12-game point steak (11-0-1).
Vegas carries a nine-game point streak (6-0-3) and a four-game winning streak into Friday’s contest. They recorded a 5-4 overtime victory over Calgary on Tuesday in a game that saw Mark Stone register his second four-point game of the season with two goals — including the game-winner 1:11 into overtime — and two assists.
The Golden Knights have played three overtime games and have had two shootout games during their streak.
“I think our game is good,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think our guys are past that start of the year talk of (a Stanley Cup) hangover or what-not. And we’re competing and we want to win every night.”
“Good teams find a way to win,” said Vegas center Jonathan Marchessault, who had three assists against the Flames. “Right now we’re just finding ways to win hockey games.”
Stone thinks the Golden Knights still have another gear.
“When we’re not playing our best hockey, we’re able to generate points, right?” he said. “I don’t think we played that well the majority of November. But we were clawing our way into games and getting into overtime when we weren’t playing our best hockey. Right now we’re actually playing pretty well, just giving up some opportunistic goals in 6-on-5 and haven’t been able to close out games.”
Buffalo, seventh in the Atlantic Division, is just 2-5-1 over its last eight games. This will be a challenging game on the heels of 5-1 loss to Colorado in Denver on Wednesday.
The Sabres had one of their poorest periods of the season at Colorado, falling behind 3-0 in the first 11:55 and not managing a shot on goal until the 18:35 mark of the period. Zach Benson cut it to 3-1 with a goal just before the end of the period, but Colorado sealed the win with a third-period goal by defenseman Sam Malinski and a power-play goal by Valeri Nichushkin.
“They came out buzzing, and we came out super-flat,” Buffalo defenseman Erik Johnson said. “When you’re down 3-0 against a team like that, it’s going to be tough.”
Buffalo coach Don Granato blamed his team’s slow start for the loss.
“When we have problem, that’s what it is,” Granato said. “When we work, we’re a decent hockey team. Yeah, it’s maddening.
“There were a couple moments of urgency. That was it. Nothing to be happy about, that’s for certain. The start was … we didn’t work hard enough, period.”
Buffalo will be without forward Jeff Skinner, who is tied for the team lead with 12 goals. Skinner, who took a hard hit from Nathan MacKinnon in Wednesday’s loss, was placed on injured reserve Thursday. Forward Brett Murray was recalled from Rochester of the AHL and will take Skinner’s spot on the roster.
–Field Level Media
