Vegas, 13-5-2 coming in (Fubo), is on its own run. The 5-3 win over Utah was the Golden Knights' 4th straight and opened a 5-game homestand. Jack Eichel scored on the power play. Victor Olofsson added another power-play goal and set up both of Ivan Barbashev's 2nd-period goals, and Brett Howden got the insurance goal after Utah pulled within 1 in the 3rd. Carter Hart only had to make 14 saves (AP via ClickOnDetroit). Stone had an assist on the Eichel goal, which put him at 416 points as a Golden Knight, 2 behind Marchessault's franchise record of 418. He projects to skate with Eichel and Trevor Connelly on the top line, and he has 10 goals and 10 assists in 20 games this season (Inside The Rink).
The matchup comes down to how good Nashville's defense really is. For a week the Predators have kept good offenses quiet, and Vegas just put 5 on a Utah team missing Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther and 3 regular defensemen. That makes the Utah result a little hollow. The Golden Knights scored twice on the power play and broke the game open with 3 goals in the 2nd period. Against a Nashville team that hasn't allowed more than 2 goals in any of its last 5, Vegas probably has to win the special-teams battle again, because 5-on-5 chances have been hard to come by against the Preds.
Vegas has injury problems of its own. Noah Hanifin is out with an upper-body injury (Las Vegas Review-Journal) and isn't expected back until around November 24 (Inside The Rink). That takes a top-4 defenseman out against the hottest team Vegas has seen in a while. Parker Wotherspoon is back after missing 13 games (Daily Faceoff), and that helps fill the hole. Puck drop is 7:00 PM PT. If Marchessault plays, Stone could pass him in his own old building with him on the ice.
