The Vegas Golden Knights can tie a franchise record for most consecutive home victories on Saturday night when they host the Utah Hockey Club in Las Vegas.
Vegas is 7-0-0 at T-Mobile Arena this season and outscored its opponents 39-16 in the process, including 24-8 in their last four games. The team’s longest home win streak (8-0-0) came in its initial season in 2017-18 when it made a storybook run to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Golden Knights, who hold a one-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division, are the 10th team in the last 20 years to open an NHL season with a seven-game home win streak and the first since the 2022-23 Boston Bruins began 14-0-0.
The contest with Utah takes on even more significance for Bruce Cassidy’s squad because they play nine of their next 11 games on the road following Saturday’s matchup. Vegas has yet to win on visiting ice (0-3-1) and comes in off an ugly 6-3 loss at Los Angeles on Wednesday.
The Kings, taking advantage of some poor defense around the slot by the Golden Knights, took a 4-0 lead in the first 31 minutes and led 6-1 midway through the third period before Pavel Dorofeyev made the score respectable with his fifth and sixth goals of the season.
“They were more competitive than us certainly in the scoring area,” Cassidy said. “I thought we were sloppy early, really sloppy from our blue line back.”
“Probably the middle of the ice,” forward Mark Stone said when asked about his team’s defensive shortcomings. “When we’re at our best we’re pretty tight in there. We keep plays to the outside and allow our goaltender to make saves. I think ultimately we didn’t take care of the middle of the ice tonight and usually when we’re playing out best we’re taking away time and space in the neutral zone, getting over the top of people, and winning net-fronts.”
Utah will be starting a four-game road trip that also includes stops in Winnipeg, St. Louis and Nashville. Andre Tourigny’s squad snapped a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) with a convincing 5-1 victory over visiting Calgary on Wednesday. Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and two assists, defenseman Maveric Lamoureux scored his first career NHL goal and Connor Ingram made 30 saves.
“It’s nice to win in front of our fans and actually show them the way we can play and win,” Sergachev said. “If we can keep playing this way every game, we’ll always have a chance.”
The win over the Flames helped Utah move on from an epic meltdown two nights earlier that saw it blow a 4-1 lead in the final 4:32 against visiting San Jose en route to a stunning 5-4 overtime loss. The comeback win snapped a season-opening nine-game losing streak for the Sharks.
“I think we were men in our battle,” Tourigny said. “We were solid, we were strong in front of our net, along the boards in our breakouts, on the forecheck. … We had focus, urgency We were exactly where we should be mentally. We were not frustrated or emotional. We were determined.”
