Golden Knights vs. Canucks Prediction
| Golden Knights Odds | +105 |
| Canucks Odds | -125 |
| Over / Under | 6 -105 / -115 |
Here's everything you need to know about the Vegas Golden Knights and Vancouver Canucks on Monday, April 8 – our expert NHL prediction and pick.
For the second time this week, the Canucks and Golden Knights will offer a potential first-round playoff preview as they go head-to-head. The Canucks were pummeled 6-3 in Vegas on Tuesday, and have lost five straight games versus playoff opponents.
Vegas enters this matchup on a dominant 7-2-1 run and will have superstar winger Tomas Hertl making his Knights debut on Monday.
Let's dive into my Golden Knights vs. Canucks prediction & pick.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Knights will move ahead of the Kings for the third spot in the Pacific division if they are to win this matchup. That's an interesting wrinkle to this game, as with all due respect to L.A. who also dominated Vancouver on Saturday, chances are the Canucks would prefer to see the Kings in Round One than the defending champs.
Adin Hill, Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, Nicolas Roy and William Carrier will remain out of the Knights' lineup on Monday. Even with five significant NHL pieces missing, though, they are still offering a pretty stacked roster in all areas.
It's not surprising to see Bruce Cassidy opt to keep Jack Eichel, Jonathan Marchessault and Ivan Barbashev together on the top line. The trio has remained in tremendous form recently, and was a massive reason for the Knights cup win last spring.
As a result, Tomas Hertl is set to debut on the second line alongside Chandler Stephenson and Michael Amadio. He will also begin on the second power-play unit. That leaves a high-quality "third" unit of Pavel Dorofeyev, William Karlsson, and Anthony Mantha.
If Hertl plays to his top potential there is no doubting that the Knights hold one of the best offensive cores in the league. Especially as Captain Mark Stone is still waiting in the wings for a probable playoff return.
If the Knights go on another run we will hear a ton of complaints about the NHL's LTIR rules. You can't necessarily fault the Knights for taking advantage, but I do agree the system is flawed.
Since the trade deadline the Knights own an expected goals share of 54.77%, and a record of 9-4-1.
Logan Thompson left practice Sunday after taking a shot in a bad spot, but it sounds like he will be okay to make the start in this contest. Keep your eyes out for confirmation of that, though, as if Thompson can't go, it will be Jiri Patera, who offers a significant drop-off.
Thompson has played to a +4.3 GSAx and .908 save percentage in 43 appearances this season.
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Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks enter this matchup with a three-point lead over the Oilers in the Pacific division race having played one more game. It's highly debatable if finishing first will even offer an edge, but regardless we Vancouver should be desperate to play well in another tune-up matchup versus an elite team.
The Canucks haven't beaten a playoff team this month, and are 6-8-2 versus playoff teams since the All-Star Break.
That's a concern, to be sure, but a key cause of that record has been the absence of likely Vezina nominee Thatcher Demko in goal. Backup goaltender Casey DeSmith has begun to struggle with his heavy workload, posting a 3.38 GAA and .859 save percentage over the last six games.
Thatcher Demko is close to returning, so it is also important to keep an eye on Vancouver's goaltending situation at morning skate today.
In 13 games since the deadline, the Canucks own a 53.56% expected goal share. Their underlying process has actually improved compared to earlier in the season, but finishing at a league-average rate while receiving below-average goaltending has hidden that fact.
Golden Knights vs. Canucks
Betting Pick & Prediction
The Knights will remain without some key bodies for this game, but what's left if the roster still makes up a tremendous unit with no clear flaws. They have been in excellent form of late, and it feels like the way the first 76 games of the season have gone is still being credited to greatly by oddsmakers as they an underdog in this matchup.
At this point it's obvious the Canucks have heard the noise about their inability to beat good teams of late. There is no doubting Rick Tocchet's group will respond with an urgent effort here after a bad loss in LA. Still, we have seen the Canucks struggle versus top teams too consistently of late for me to resist fading them here as a favorite.
It's fair to defend the Canucks and note that they have been playing without a Vezina-caliber goaltender in Demko, particularly as an overworked DeSmith has begun to struggle. That note won't help them win this game though (unless Demko returns), and that makes me believe it's not worth overthinking this spot.
If the goaltending matchup is confirmed as DeSmith vs. Thompson, the Knights are worthy of a smaller play at anything better than +100.
