Knights Heavily Favored Vs Struggling Coyotes

The Vegas Golden Knights (12-10-0) visit the Arizona Coyotes (5-16-2) at Gila River Arena on Friday night in their first meeting of the season. Both teams will have a change to get back into the win column as Vegas has lost two straight while Arizona has dropped three of its last four games.

Sportsbook Odds Analysis

The Golden Knights opened as big road favorites, going off at -222 on the moneyline. Meanwhile, the Coyotes opened at +150 as the underdog. The total was set at 6 goals with the UNDER going 4-1 in the last five meetings in Arizona. Vegas comes into this matchup with the upper hand, going 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.

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Vegas News & Notes

Vegas lost its second straight game on Wednesday, falling 6-5 to the Anaheim Ducks despite a comeback rally. After the Ducks went up 4-1 in the second period, the Golden Knights fought back to get within one at 5-4. However, Isac Lundestrom buried an empty-netter to put Anaheim up 6-4 late in the third and they held on. Mattias Janmark and Max Pacioretty tallied a goal and an assist each to lead Vegas in scoring while Robin Lehner stopped 28 of 33 shots in the loss.

Captain Mark Stone had yet another injury scare on Wednesday as he crashed shoulder-first into the boards in the third period. After leaving the game briefly, he returned and ended up finishing the game. Stone has played just 10 games this season, tallying one goal and nine assists.

Alec Martinez (facial) is questionable for Friday. The blue-liner has not played since November 11.

Arizona News & Notes

The Coyotes dropped their last game on Tuesday, falling 5-2 to the Minnesota Wild. Clayton Keller (1-1-2) was in on both goals for Arizona while Scott Wedgewood took the loss, making 32 saves on 37 shots.

Arizona has struggled heavily this season at both ends of the rink, ranking 32nd in goals per game (1.83) and tied for 28th in goals against per game (3.48) despite decent goaltending from both Wedgewood (.921 save percentage) and Karel Vejmelka (.916 save percentage).

Johan Larsson (COVID-19) is questionable for Friday.

How Vegas Will Win

The Golden Knights haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire this season but they’re still one of the most talented teams in the NHL, as proven by their track record in previous years. With Stone and Pacioretty finally healthy and back in the lineup, they should be able to top the Coyotes quite comfortably.

How Arizona Will Win

The Coyotes are scoring fewer than two goals per game, which means their only hope of winning is to limit the Golden Knights offensively. Luckily both goaltenders have been good, with Vejmelka stopping all 46 shots against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday to earn his first career shutout. The offensively starved Coyotes will likely need a similarly strong performance from whoever gets the start on Friday.

Computer Pick: Golden Knights -225

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