It's been a slippery slope into the new year for the Golden Knights, who have dropped seven of their past nine games.
While the poor results could be blamed on serious injuries, the defending champions have struggled mightily when given ripe opportunities. The Knights have made 7 of 35 on the power play during this losing period, including Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Panthers, when they extended a two-man advantage and went 0 of 6. Ta.
Conversely, Florida sank three goals on the power play, and the Knights' special teams ranked 16th overall in both power play and penalty kill.
Logan Thompson has allowed a few soft goals in recent starts and his play has declined in Addin Hill's absence. He has a .900 save percentage in seven of his last 10 games. Thompson feels he is in a key position to respond after coach Bruce Cassidy hinted to the media that he needed to do better.
The Islanders enter Las Vegas on Friday coming off a strong rebound against Arizona after a disappointing overtime loss to Colorado.
Bo Horvat scored four goals in the 5-1 win, moving him into second place on the club with 38 points. Players like Horvat, Anders Lee, and Mathew Barzal have made up for their inconsistent performance with production.
Although there were some defensive lapses and Ilya Sorokin had some issues, he was able to save 7.6 goals per game, which was better than expected, and gave the Isles enough strength. New York is allowing the second-most shots allowed in the league at 32.3.
Sorokin plays his best hockey when he is forced to do the work by opposing shooters. He is 7-2-6 when faced with 35 or more shots.
The Knights are a top-10 team in ability to get the puck on net, but are 19th best in shot percentage.
Meanwhile, they've been stuck in 5-on-5 play throughout drills, which should create some congestion against an Islanders team that has been vastly outclassed in puck possession all year.
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Both teams remain in the battlegrounds in their respective divisions heading into Saturday's puck drop with no certainty of second place.
Las Vegas needs to play some serious hockey for 60 minutes, and with the Islanders chasing season momentum, there should be no jackpot in Sin City.
play: Islanders-Golden Knights Under 6.5 (-140 FanDuel)
