The first-place Vegas Golden Knights have had a few days off to prepare for a two-game trip that begins Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers.
The matchup in Alberta will be the first meeting this season between the Pacific Division clubs, who are expected to battle for supremacy in the division.
Vegas has competed to the extremes when it comes to home and road play: The club is 8-0-0 on home ice but 0-3-1 on the road.
The eight straight home victories equal a franchise record. The Golden Knights reached the milestone on Brett Howden’s overtime goal in a 4-3 win over the Utah Hockey Club Saturday.
While Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy was pleased about Howden’s game-winner, the night turned in by Noah Hanifin topped his list.
The 27-year-old Boston-born defenseman had a goal and two assists against Utah after going all of October without a tally and just three assists — meaning he matched last month’s point production in one night.
“It was important for (Hanifin) to find his game offensively. That’s something he counts on and expects to bring to the team,” Cassidy said. “Individually, it meant a lot to him (to score).”
With the Oilers still minus superstar Connor McDavid (ankle injury), more ugliness appeared in Monday’s 3-0 home shutout loss against the New Jersey Devils, who scored once in each period and kept sizzling Leon Draisaitl off the scoresheet.
Part of the problem for Edmonton was an extremely slow start to the new campaign after its runner-up finish to the Florida Panthers in last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
Edmonton lost three times out of the gate in being outscored 15-3 by the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames, though the Oilers exacted some revenge on their provincial neighbors Sunday night.
Playing without McDavid, Edmonton led from the outset and ousted the Flames in the 265th Battle of Alberta, claiming a 4-2 victory and a seventh straight win in Calgary, including the 2022 playoffs.
Not surprisingly in McDavid’s absence, coach Kris Knoblauch’s squad has leaned on the reliably elite play of Draisaitl, who is off to a strong start in what could be another 100-point effort.
Through a baker’s dozen of matches, the German center has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) — a start that paces for the century mark.
Still, the focus continues to be on McDavid, who optimistically took the optional skate Monday and felt like he is ahead of schedule. He originally was to be sidelined two to three weeks, the team said last Wednesday.
“When it first happens, obviously you’re concerned that it’s maybe something a little more serious,” McDavid said Monday of his reaction to the injury, which occurred Oct. 28 vs. Columbus. “But thankfully, I got good news and I’ve been doing everything possible to make it feel better.”
Knoblauch said the competitive nature of the game’s most dynamic player factors into the rehab.
“He’s a competitor,” Knoblauch said. “He wants to be out on the ice, and he wants to be helping the team win. He knows his body and the doctors are giving him their medical advice. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to when the doctors think it’s best for him to come back.”
That return could come as soon as Saturday, when the Oilers play at the Vancouver Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada.
