Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Vegas Golden Knights will begin their longest road trip of the season 4:30 p.m. today at Toronto to open a five-game road swing.
They won’t return to T-Mobile Arena until Nov. 29.
Vegas has dropped three of its last five games, bringing some uncertainty to how the team will perform in this extended stretch on the road.
How many games will Adin Hill have to play?
Goalie Adin Hill has played five out of the Golden Knights’ last six games to fill the gap that Ilya Samsonov left due to an undisclosed injury.
Samsonov struggled Sunday against the Washington Capital in his first game since Oct. 30 in allowing five goals on 25 shots.
With Vegas also playing on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators, the netminders could each see action in the initial two games of the trip.
Samsonov has a history with both opponents, being waived last season by Toronto after a stretch that saw him give up 22 goals in four games. This will be his first game back in Toronto.
And against Ottawa, Samsonov and Senators goalie Linus Ullmark have been feuding since the 2023 playoffs. Ullmark, with Boston, said he was “surprised that (Toronto) kept Samsonov in for that many games against us in the playoffs.”
This summer, after the Golden Knights had signed Samsonov, he called out Ullmark in an Instagram comment and specifically mentioned Thursday’s game.
“November 21, keep your butt shut) or are you injured again?” Samsonov commented.
With Samsonov still trying to get acclimated to game pace and all the commotion around him, you could argue the Golden Knights might want to rely on Hill even more.
Will the Golden Knights be able to withstand the injury bug?
The injury bug is beginning to flare up.
After leading the Golden Knights in scoring through the first 13 games of the season, captain Mark Stone suffered a lower-body injury against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 6 and still considered “day-to-day.”
The Golden Knights have posted a 2-3 record since he got injured.
Nicolas Hague, who returned for one game against Utah on Nov. 2, has been back on injured reserve for nearly two weeks. He did rejoin team practices on Monday in a “no-contact jersey.”
General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced Tuesday that the Golden Knights had placed defenseman Ben Hutton on long-term injured reserve.
As of Nov. 19, the Golden Knights had 14 forwards and six defensemen dressed. With Hauge returning to practice, he could return to play on this trip.
Mason Morelli and Cal Burke were called up from Henderson, signaling that Stone could be out for longer.
Victor Olofsson, who has been on long-term injured reserve, was assigned to Henderson on a conditioning loan. This means that he will play a few games with the Silver Knights as part of his injury rehab.
Can the Golden Knights pick up a quality win?
Despite leading the Pacific Division, the Golden Knights are 1-5-1 against the teams in the top three of their respective divisions.
Their lone win, 6-1, over the Los Angeles Kings came when the Kings were 3-1-2. In the rematch on Oct. 30, the Golden Knights lost 6-3.
Vegas is the second-best scoring team in the league, scoring 48 goals over 18 games and averaging 25 shots a game, so it doesn’t have a problem creating offense against its opponents.
Toronto will not have its captain, Auston Matthews, but it has won five of its last six and is getting big production numbers from Mitch Marner (24 points) and William Nylander (20 points).
Ottawa is a team in the middle of the Atlantic Division, and Montreal is toward the bottom, so the Golden Knights should be favored to win both games. Vegas plays Montreal 4 p.m. Saturday.
It then faces Philadelphia 4 p.m. Monday, which has won three of its last four and Colorado, which has won four out of its previous five.