The Golden Knights and surprising Vancouver Canucks collide in an early-season battle for first place in the Pacific Division north of the border Thursday night.
Only one point separates the teams. VGK remains atop the division but has struggled during their time away from T-Mobile Arena. Thursday's game will be their third road contest in four nights. The Golden Knights have lost eight of their last 11 games, but have been able to bank a point in each of their last two games.
VGK received word that star defenseman Shea Theodore will be out of the lineup after surgery on an undisclosed upper body injury. Theodore, who missed 27 games last season, is now listed as week-to-week by the club.
We can expect to see Brayden Pachal or Kaeden Korczak filling in for Theodore. VGK will miss Theodore on the rush. When Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet received word he said, "Theodore's out, right? We're catching a break." Theodore and starting blueliner Alec Martinez have not been on this road trip due to injuries.
Bruce Cassidy was pleased the Golden Knights got production from Keegan Kolesar and Ben Hutton in Tuesday's shootout loss in Edmonton. They each scored their first goal of the season. Cassidy knows that scoring has to come from different players as the team has struggled to score at times in recent games.
As for Thursday's game in Vancouver, VGK will be facing a team that has dominated on its home ice. The Canucks are 8-1-1 at Rogers Arena. Tocchet called this a "will" game. He said Vancouver will have to "go to the net again and again." He said he feels his team will be inspired to play the Golden Knights and could come away from the game in first place in the divisional race.
"These are the games we should be excited about," Tocchet said.