Vegas Golden Knights vs Calgary Flames: Knights can’t afford losing one more division confrontation

The Western Conference leader Calgary Flames will play their next game in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights are still out of the playoff picture, so they will do everything they can to beat the Flames. Will the Flames be able to withstand this difficult road trip? Let's pick a few options to bet on at once.

The Golden Knights warmed up in the previous game well before facing the leader of the West. They defeated Arizona 7-1 on the road. Max Pacioretty notched a double-double and Evgeny Dadonov also scored another goal. An excellent, but hardly representative win for the Golden Knights. It is much more significant that before the trip to Phoenix, Vegas lost to Edmonton and St. Louis, as well as to division rival Anaheim Ducks 5-6 in regulation time. Peter DeBoer's team is still very unstable and it should come as no surprise that they're not even particularly confident in the wild-card zone at the moment. With a roster like that! Frankly, there have been periodic questions about the performance of the Vegas coach all season since Gerard Gallant left the team.

This is not the first time this season that Darryl Sutter's team has had a classy road trip. The matchup with Vegas is the third straight for Calgary away from home, and the Flames have not lost a point in their first two games. First, the Flames handled Los Angeles 3-2, and then, the very next day, they beat Anaheim 4-3 in a shootout. The team's performance was phenomenally efficient, just like a true contentious player. Calgary steadily scores points, regardless of the circumstances, and rightfully leads at the moment the summary table of the Western Conference.

• Vegas: Jack Eichel, Alec Martinez, Nolan Patrick, William Karlsson – not playing;
• Calgary: Brett Ritchie – not playing.

Vegas beat Calgary in all 6 matches they have ever played.

Vegas just has to win in the upcoming matchup. If the Golden Knights really plan to finally get to their main goal – to reach the Stanley Cup Finals again, they need to add points now. Besides, after losing to Anaheim, losing the next divisional game also increases the tournament value of the result. So, Vegas will do their best, maybe not win in regulation time, but they will get 1 point for sure.

Prediction: Vegas will be closer to victory.

• Vegas Not To Lose + Total Under (7.5) for 1.88;
• X in regulation time for 4.00;
• Correct Score 3-3 for 14.00.