Arizona Coyotes vs. Vegas Golden Knights: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 11/17/2022

Time: 10 p.m. ET

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Where to watch: BSAZ, ATTSN-RM, SN360

DraftKings: Golden Knights -380, Coyotes +310

FanDuel: Golden Knights -410, Coyotes +315

BetMGM: Golden Knights -400, Coyotes +300

Caesars: Golden Knights -420, Coyotes +320

Coyotes: 6-8-1, (13 points)

Golden Knights: 13-4-0 (26 points)

Coyotes: lost 4-1 at Rangers on Sunday

Golden Knights: lost 5-2 vs. Sharks on Tuesday

Okay, so maybe the Vegas Golden Knights used up all their energy during that road trip. They’ve come back home to lose two in a row and suddenly, maybe, teams have started to figure them out. Or – and hear me out – that good teams are going to go through lulls like this and not look so hot sometimes.

But after two games where they’ve fallen flat, the Golden Knights have a good chance to get back on track on Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes to close out Vegas’ three-game homestand.

The Golden Knights are coming off a 5-2 loss to San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, something that didn’t seem plausible until you watch that game back. For the second straight game, the Golden Knights played well enough for two periods, but the problem is you have to play three in an NHL game. It was a dud for Logan Thompson to lose for the first time in seven starts, and a night where Jack Eichel scored his 400th NHL point was robbed.

"Our record indicates we're a good team, and I believe that," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I just walked off the bench 10 minutes ago pretty unhappy that we let a third-period lead get away. Good teams do not do that. You have to give San Jose credit, but some of that was on us, how we defended."

You can chalk up a lot of things to why the Golden Knights have scored four goals in their last two games. Part of it, I think, is coming off that road trip looking a little flat and needing more time to get back to their game. It’s a long season and the schedule doesn’t play favors to anyone. They’re about to play four games next week and they’re condensed because of the Thanksgiving holiday. If you’re going to get your legs back, playing every other day for a little bit will help matters.

And it’ll help facing a Coyotes team that is in the midst of a 14-game road trip and have dropped two in a row after winning three straight. The Coyotes are traveling cross-country to face Vegas after losing 4-1 to the New York Rangers on Sunday. So at least there’s some rest in-between, but when you run into a hot goalie like Igor Shesterkin, things are going to come hard by to score.

Arizona, with an elite power play, went 1-for-6 with Clayton Keller scoring the lone goal in the game for the Coyotes.

"The power play has been really good, it's not a secret," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "Tonight, it did not happen. The guys will make the adjustment and we'll bounce back. But our play at 5-on-5, we started the season giving [up] 45 shots a night and now we're a team that is way more stingy. We're a team that had a tough time putting 20 [shots] on net early in the season and now we get to 30 or we're around 30 and we have more volume and more O-zone possession. We're getting better."

It will be a historic day when Golden Knights forward Phil Kessel plays his 1,000th consecutive NHL game. The NHL’s Iron Man hits the century mark and will even be acknowledged before the game for this accomplishment. For someone who says four words the entire time with a microphone in his face, this will surely go great.

This should be a win for Vegas. Stay out of the box, don’t give the Coyotes life, and play your game. This is a no-brainer. I can’t imagine them losing this time around. Golden Knights win 4-1

Golden Knights are 35-16 in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

The over is 22-9 when the Golden Knights play a 2nd game in five days.

Coyotes are 14-18 on the road when the total is 6 or more the last 2 seasons.

Coyotes are 3-0 after consecutive losses this season.

Coyotes:

Clayton Keller -- Barrett Hayton -- Dylan Guenther

Matias Maccelli -- Nick Bjugstad -- Lawson Crouse

Nick Ritchie -- Jack McBain -- Christian Fischer

Liam O'Brien -- Travis Boyd -- Dysin Mayo

Juuso Valimaki -- J.J. Moser

Shayne Gostisbehere -- Josh Brown

Patrik Nemeth -- Troy Stecher

Karel Vejmelka

Golden Knights:

Chandler Stephenson -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone

Reilly Smith -- William Karlsson -- Jonathan Marchessault

Paul Cotter -- Brett Howden -- Phil Kessel

William Carrier -- Nicolas Roy -- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez -- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Zach Whitecloud

Adin Hill

Points: Clayton Keller -- 17

Goals: Clayton Keller -- 6

Assists: Clayton Keller -- 11

Goalie: Karel Vejmelka -- 5-4-2, 3.16 GAA, .910 SV%

Points: Jack Eichel -- 20

Goals: Jack Eichel -- 10

Assists: Alex Pietrangelo -- 13

Goalie: Logan Thompson -- 8-3-0, 2.38 GAA, .922 SV%