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Vegas Golden Knights at Columbus Blue Jackets

Sat Oct 247:00 PM ETESPN+Columbus, OH
By JR·2 min read
Golden Knights(8-3-0)
Blue Jackets(3-5-0)
Saturday 10/247:00 PM

TLDR: Vegas has spent October running teams out of the building, and Columbus has spent it looking for goals. Saturday, October 24 at Nationwide Arena puts the two side by side.

SAT 10/24, 7:00 PMESPN+
Golden Knights
(8-3-0)
LWWWL
Blue Jackets
(3-5-0)
LLWLL

Vegas brings one of the league's hottest offenses to Columbus, but plays at St. Louis first, so its form and freshness are both open questions until Thursday. Columbus is 3-5-0, short on goals and coming off a 6-2 loss to Toronto, but gets 3 days of rest at home. The game comes down to whether the Blue Jackets can keep it low-scoring against a team that has piled up 6-goal nights.

Vegas Golden Knights
  • 17 goals over 3-game streak through October 17
  • Stone driving top line: 1 goal, 2 assists vs Pittsburgh
  • Won 7 of 8 as of October 17
  • Plays at St. Louis 2 nights before
  • Back end of a road swing into Columbus
Columbus Blue Jackets
  • 3 days of rest since Tuesday's home game
  • Knies scored twice in season-opening win
  • Won tight games: 1-0 OT, shootout vs Pittsburgh
  • 2 or fewer goals in each of last 3
  • Lost 6-2 at home to Toronto
  • Allowed 7 to Florida, 6 to Toronto at home

Vegas has the louder start. As of their 6-2 win over Pittsburgh on October 17, the Golden Knights were 8-2-0, had won 7 of 8, and had put up 17 goals across a 3-game winning streak, with 6 or more in back-to-back games. Mark Stone was in the middle of it that night, scoring once and setting up 2 more in a 3-goal first period. That's a team whose top six is producing, not one getting by on goaltending.

There's a catch. Vegas still has a game to play before this one: a road date in St. Louis on Thursday, then a trip to Columbus. Whatever happens at Enterprise Center decides the form, the goalie rotation and how heavy the legs are by Saturday. Columbus, meanwhile, has nothing on the schedule between Tuesday's home game against Toronto and this one, so the Blue Jackets get 3 days of rest. The board hasn't posted a full price yet, and it shouldn't until Vegas is done in St. Louis.

The Blue Jackets' October has gone the other way. They opened with a lot of home ice, beat Buffalo 6-3 on night 1 behind 2 goals and an assist from Matthew Knies in his Columbus debut, and they've had a hard time scoring since. They sit at 3-5-0 after a 6-2 home loss to Toronto, and they've scored 2 or fewer in each of their last 3. Their 1-0 overtime win over the Rangers came down to defending and goaltending, not finishing.

Vegas Golden Knights
(8-3-0)
10/21LvsLightning2-6
10/18WvsPenguins6-2
10/16WvsFlames6-2
10/14W@Predators5-2
10/13L@Wild2-4
Columbus Blue Jackets
(3-5-0)
10/20LvsMaple Leafs2-6
10/18L@Wild1-2
10/17WvsRangers1-0
10/13LvsPanthers3-7
10/10L@Blues3-5

St. Louis is the one opponent both teams share. Columbus lost there 5-3 on October 10, and Vegas goes there Thursday. That isn't a fair comparison, with different points in the season and different lineups, but it's the closest thing to a common measuring stick this early. If Vegas handles the Blues the way it handled Pittsburgh, it'll come into Columbus looking like a clear tier above the Blue Jackets. If St. Louis grinds out a long one, Saturday becomes the back end of a road swing against a rested home team.

For Columbus, the question is simple. Can a team that has scored 2 or fewer in 3 straight keep up with a Vegas attack that has been hanging 6 on people? The Blue Jackets' best nights so far came when they kept games tight, like the shutout of the Rangers and the shootout win over Pittsburgh. Puck drop is 7:00 PM ET, and if Columbus is still level after 40 minutes, the rest edge starts to matter.

Golden Knights vs. Blue Jackets: Polymarket Odds & Prediction (Oct. 24) — Golden Knights Bring a Loaded Offense Into Nationwide Arena on Saturday · Barstool Bush