Tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks will go head-to-head at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. In this segment of Last Word On Hockey’s NHL Predictions, we’ll take a look at how both teams’ last regular season games will go. While Vegas has already clinched the Pacific Division, Vancouver was eliminated from playoffs last week.
Head-to-Head: 3–0 Vegas
Time: 10:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)
TV: SN360, TNT, TNT Web, TruTV
Vancouver has not won a single game against Vegas this season, but their struggles against the Golden Knights exceed just 2024–25. All time, the Canucks are 7–15–2 against the Golden Knights. Their last win against Vegas was on April 8, 2024. In all three of their matchups this season, Vegas has scored three goals. In two of these meetings, Vancouver has only tallied one in each. To end their season with a win, the Canucks will need to focus on putting up more offence.
The Golden Knights enter this matchup against the Canucks with nothing to lose. They clinched the Pacific Division on April 12 against the Nashville Predators, which means they’ve already gained home-ice advantage. Their first-round opponent was decided last night, when the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild both won their playoff-clinching matchups. Vegas also played last night, losing 5-4 in a shootout to the Calgary Flames.
In last night’s match against the Flames, Vegas rested Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, and Noah Hanifin. Nothing regarding tonight’s lineup has been released yet, though if these players are being rested in preparation for a playoff run, there could be a chance that they also sit out tonight. If this is the case, the team’s highest points-getters will be Tomáš Hertl and Shea Theodore. In his career, Hertl has put up 17 goals and 20 assists against the Canucks in 45 games played.
Vancouver, on the other hand, has already ruled out multiple players for the rest of the season. Elias Pettersson, Thatcher Demko, Tyler Myers, Derek Forbort, and Filip Chytil have all been shut down for the year. As a result, many of the Canucks’ younger players have taken bigger roles in the lineup. However, all eyes will be on Quinn Hughes as he looks to break the franchise record in career points by a defenceman (409). He tied the record on Monday night against the San Jose Sharks by helping set up Jake DeBrusk’s 2–1 overtime winner.
Seeing as the Golden Knights are missing two of their leading scorers in Eichel and Stone, the team’s offence may be limited in tonight’s matchup. Let’s see Vegas go four-for-four with three goals in each game against Vancouver this year.
Prediction: Vegas wins 3–2
Ivan Barbashev has a goal in each of his two games against the Canucks this season. He has scored three times in his past five games, also adding an assist last night. For Vancouver, it’s hard not to bet on Hughes, especially given the magnitude of his next point.
Main Photo: Bob Frid- Imagn-Images
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