Morning Skate Report: Oct 17. 2024

Morning Skate Report: Oct 17. 2024

The Golden Knights travel to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning in their second road game of the season

The Golden Knights (3-1-0) are looking to get their first win on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning (2-0-0) on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT at Amalie Arena.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: Vegas 34
Streaming: KnightTime+
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340

NOTES
Thursday’s game is the second of a three-game trip for the Golden Knights. Vegas dropped the first game of the trip to the Washington Capitals, 4-2, on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena.

VGK MILESTONE WATCH
Bruce Cassidy – One win away from 100 wins with the Golden Knights
Nicolas Roy – Five games away from 300 games as a Golden Knight
Shea Theodore – Six points away from 300 points as a Golden Knight
Jack Eichel – Seven assists away from 100 assists as a Golden Knight
Mark Stone – Nine goals away from 100 goals as a Golden Knight

CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
Bruce Cassidy – Nine wins away from 400 career NHL wins
Tomas Hertl – Nine points away from 500 career points

VGK SCORING LEADERS
Jack Eichel – 8 points (2G, 6A)
Mark Stone – 8 points (2G, 6A)
Ivan Barbashev – 7 points (3G, 4A)
Shea Theodore – 5 points (1G, 4A)

LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Knights had their three-game win streak snapped in a 4-2 loss against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night at Capitals One Arena. Victor Olofsson and Jack Eichel found the back of the net for the Golden Knights in the loss.

2023-24 SEASON SERIES
The Golden Knights went 0-2-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2023-24 season. The Golden Knights saw an early 2-0 lead evaporate in a 5-4 loss to the Lightning on Dec. 21 at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay skated to a 5-3 win in the final matchup of the season on March 19 at T-Mobile Arena. Eichel led the team with three assists in the two matchups with the Lightning last season.

OPPOSITION UPDATE
The Tampa Bay Lightning are 2-0-0 at the start of their season. The Lightning have won each of their two games by the same score of 4-1, most recently against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. The team reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh season in a row in 2023-24 but fell in five games to the Florida Panthers. Tampa’s top scorer, Nikita Kucherov, finished the season with 144 points (44G, 100A), and secured the Art Ross trophy. Brayden Point led the Lightning in goals with 46, and was second in total points with 90 (44A). Tampa’s new captain, Victor Hedman, led the blue line with 76 points (13G, 63A) in 78 games.

PACIFIC DIVISION STANDINGS
Calgary Flames – 4-0-0, 8 points
Vegas Golden Knights – 3-1-0, 6 points
Anaheim Ducks – 2-1-0, 4 points
Los Angeles Kings – 1-0-2, 4 points
Seattle Kraken – 2-2-0, 4 points
Vancouver Canucks – 0-1-2, 2 points
San Jose Sharks – 0-1-2, 2 points
Edmonton Oilers – 1-3-0, 2 points

A VEGAS VICTORY WOULD…
– Mark the 316th win in franchise history
– Give the Golden Knights a 7-5-0 all-time record against Tampa

KEYS TO THE GAME
Find the Pace: Head Coach Bruce Cassidy mentioned that the team didn’t get to their usual pace in the game against Washington. The ideal situation for the Golden Knights against Tampa would be to keep a strong pace to their game.

Early Start: Vegas has allowed the first goal three times to start the season. Alex Pietrangelo said that the team got better throughout the game on Tuesday, but a key to winning for Vegas would be a strong and early start.