Montreal @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2018 ) Montreal 4, Vegas 3

The Vegas Golden Knights have yet to find their groove at home this season, alternating wins and losses over their first seven games at T-Mobile Arena. They hope to begin a winning streak in their own building when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Vegas improved to 4-3-0 overall at home - and 1-1-0 on its four-game stretch there - with a 5-2 victory over Anaheim on Sunday as Mark Stone recorded a goal and an assist to increase his team-leading point total to 16. The 27-year-old right wing, who signed an eight-year, $76 million contract extension March 8 after being acquired from Ottawa less than a month earlier, has landed on the scoresheet in all but two of his 13 games this season. Montreal is coming off a 4-1 triumph at Arizona on Wednesday in the opener of its three-game road trip as defenseman Shea Weber scored a goal and set up another. Jonathan Drouin also tallied in the victory, giving him three goals in his last two games and tying him for the team lead with six.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, TSN2, RDS (Montreal), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas)

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (6-4-2): Brendan Gallagher reached a milestone Wednesday, skating in his 500th NHL game, and recorded his sixth goal of the season to pull even with Drouin and Joel Armia for first on the club. The 27-year-old Gallagher has netted four tallies over his last six contests after scoring twice in his first six games of 2019-20. Nick Cousins has not shown any lingering effects of a back injury that delayed his start to the season, registering two goals and three assists in his first five contests with the club after signing as a free agent over the summer.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (8-5-0): Vegas could be getting some reinforcements Thursday as defenseman Nate Schmidt and goaltender Malcolm Subban could return to the lineup while Alex Tuch may make his season debut. Schmidt has not played since the season opener and Subban has been out since making his 2019-20 debut Oct. 10 because of lower-body injuries while Tuch, who scored 20 goals in 2018-19, has been sidelined with an upper-body ailment. Reilly Smith is tied with Stone for the team lead with seven goals in 13 games after registering 19 in 74 contests last season but has tallied once in his last five outings.

OVERTIME

1. Golden Knights LW Max Pacioretty, who has gone seven games without a goal, is one point shy of 500 for his career.

2. Armia's three-game goal-scoring streak ended Wednesday.

3. Vegas created roster space for the anticipated returnees by assigning Ds Nicolas Hague and Jake Bischoff, G Garret Sparks and C Nicolas Roy to Chicago of the American Hockey League on Monday.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 4, Canadiens 2