The Vegas Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks will face off in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night.
The Canucks will be facing elimination, but they did just that in Game 5 and pulled out a 2-1 victory. Now the series is at 3-2, and Vegas wants to end it.
Who Do The Knights Have In Net?
One of the key members of this Vegas team is Marc-Andre Fleury, but he hasn’t received much playing time in the playoffs. Fleury was one of the original members of the expansion team in 2017.
“Flower (Fleury) ‘s a big part of our room. Even if he’s not starting, he’s a huge part of our room. So when he gets in there, guys are pretty fired up,” said defenseman Nate Schmidt.
Fleury’s agent even sent out a tweet about his absence in the playoffs. But after that, he played in Game 4 and made 28 saves in a 5-3 win.
“I thought the guys battled really hard, played really well in front of me. Fun to watch out there,” Fleury said. “I felt those two weeks (without playing) early in the game. A little (jittery), was moving a little too much. In the second, I saw more shots and felt better. In the third, I felt back to normal.”
Vegas has been playing Robin Lehner in net for most of the postseason. They acquired him right before the NHL trade deadline, and he has a 7-2 record in the playoffs this year.
But they lost Game 5 with Lehner in net, though they also only scored one goal. They will look for a better outing in Game 6 to avoid a Game 7.
Forward Reilly Smith talked about their plans, and he isn’t messing around.
“We’re going to come into (Game 6) just to try to step on their necks and end this,” Smith said.
Canucks Staying Alive
With just a win in Game 2, the Canucks went down 3-1 in the series. They were up for elimination in Game 5 but came out with the win to stay alive.
Their goalie, Thatcher Demko, had an incredible performance in Game 5. The Canucks were outshot 43-17 but were still able to win as Demko gave up only one goal.
The Canucks can’t count on Vegas not getting any of those bounces in Game 6. They need to prevent more shots on defense and create more offensive chances.
If they happen to pull it out, Games 6 and 7 will happen on back-to-back days.
Prediction
Vegas is the better team and is the heavy favorite at -230. Vancouver caught a break in Game 5 with a stellar performance in net and being able to just squeak out the win.
The Canucks won’t be able to do the same in Game 6. Expect Vegas to come out and end it, getting plenty more shots on net than Vancouver again.
Bet the Golden Knights.