Making a short trip before a five-game home stand, the Arizona Coyotes (8-9-2) head to “Sin City” as they clash with the Vegas Golden Knights (14-4-2) tonight inside T-Mobile Arena at 8 p.m. MST.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Currently, the Coyotes are on a three-game losing streak after a back and forth, 6-5 defeat to the St. Louis Blues (10-8-1) on Nov. 22.
As a result, Arizona has dropped to sixth place in the Central Division as the Nashville Predators (9-10) recently tied them in points with 18.
In the other direction, the Golden Knights are coming off of last season in which they were the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Champions.
However, the “VGK” are continuing their success as a franchise yet again as they are No. 1 in both the Pacific Division, Western Conference and the second-best team in the NHL.
Going up against another juggernaut in the league, Vegas came out victorious as they beat the Dallas Stars (12-5-2) 2-1 in overtime last Wednesday.
The Coyotes will be in for a tough challenge as they look to end their recent skid and leave Nevada with a win against a powerhouse like Vegas.
Here is all you need to know before puck-drop at the “Fortress:”
Pregame Notes
Despite his team’s recent struggles, Coyotes left wing Clayton Keller leads the way as he has 7 goals and 11 assists for 18 points in 19 games.
Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram is expected to start tonight after Karel Vejmelka did against St. Louis last game.
So far, Ingram has a 6-3 record with a 2.94 save-percentage and .910 goals-against-average. He gave up 2 goals on 20 shots versus the Blues due to Vejmelka being pulled halfway through.
Also, the Coyotes have the second-most amount of penalty minutes (272) and sixth-best power-play (26.1%) in the NHL.
On the other hand, Vegas center’s Jack Eichel and William Karlsson are both off to blistering starts to the season as they have 20 points each in 2o contests.
Additionally, Knights defenseman Shea Theodore has 4 goals and 14 assists for 18 points in 20 games.
At the time of reporting, Vegas has not announced if ex-Coyote goaltender Adin Hill will defend the crease tonight or not.
Like Arizona, the Knights split between starting Hill or their other goalie, Logan Thompson.
As a combined tandem, Hill and Thompson have a .927 save-percentage which is the third-highest in the league.
Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez (lower body) is questionable tonight as he has been labeled as out “day-to-day.”
History
Coming into the game, Arizona were 1-2 last season against the Golden Knights.
First, Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo scored a goal and had two assists in a 4-1 win on Nov. 17, 2022 at T-Mobile Arena.
Again in “Sin City,” the Golden Knights claimed a 5-2 victory powered by two goals and an assist by captain Mark Stone on Dec. 21, 2022.
Then on Jan. 22, Keller scored a hat-trick at Mullett Arena to beat Vegas 4-1.
During preseason, Vegas narrowly won 3-1 over Arizona on Sept. 29.
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Alec Cipollini is a reporter of the Arizona Coyotes and Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
