Golden Knights want to start the holiday with a win over the Ducks

The Vegas Golden Knights play their last game before the winter break against the Anaheim Ducks and want to secure the two points.

The Golden Knights and Ducks will play for the fourth and final time this season, with the Golden Knights emerging victorious in all three contests. The first meeting between the two teams took place in the second game of the season and ended in a 3-1 win for the Golden Knights.

The second matchup between the two was another hard-fought game, with the Golden Knights holding off a late push from the Ducks to win 3-2. The third and most recent meeting was another game in which the Golden Knights significantly outscored the Ducks en route to a 4-1 win.

Tonight’s matchup will be a home game for the Golden Knights, who have won three straight and eight of their last ten games.

Jack Eichel is out of the Art Ross race due to Nathan MacKinnon’s recent push, but Eichel’s all-around play will keep him in the Hart Trophy race. Despite Eichel’s high point total, he has failed to score in five games and has scored just one goal in his last eleven games.

Adin Hill has a save percentage over .900 and has continued to improve throughout the season. He is the expected goalkeeper tonight and will likely face John Gibson.

The young Ducks core struggled to score goals, ranking 30th in the NHL in goals per game compared to the Golden Knights’ average of 3.52 goals per game (fifth best in the NHL). The Golden Knights have several advantages heading into today’s game, but will need to stay focused to secure the two points.

Golden Knights’ planned lineup:

Olofsson Acorn Stone
Hertl-Karlsson-Kolesar
Howden-Laczynski-Dorofejew
Pearson-Schwindt-Holtz

McNabb Theodore
Hanifin Pietrangelo
Hague-Whitecloud

Samsonov
hill

Projected Ducks lineup:

Vatrano Strome Terry
McGinn-Carlsson-Killorn
Gauthier-McTavish Fabbri
Harkins-Lundestrom Leason

Zellweger Trouba
Mintyukov-Dumoulin
LaCombe Gudas

Gibson
Dostal

The puck will be dropped at T-Mobile Arena at 7:00 p.m. PST

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