Carolina @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 31, 2020 ) Vegas 4, Carolina 3

The Vegas Golden Knights will play a game in Sin City for the first time in nearly one full month on Saturday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes. The Golden Knights, who last played at home on Jan. 11, erupted for a season-high scoring output in a 7-2 romp over Florida to conclude a stretch of eight road games sandwiched around the NHL All-Star break.

Mark Stone matched a career best with a franchise-high five-point performance (two goals, three assists) against the Panthers, an effort that led to new coach Peter DeBoer heaping verbal bouquets in his direction. "Wow. I mean, he's a good player every night, but that was another level (Thursday). ... I thought he was great," DeBoer said of Stone, who joined Paul Stastny in posting a five-point performance in the playoffs last spring. DeBoer will be making his first appearance as the Golden Knights' coach at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday against Carolina, which answered a 4-3 loss to Vegas on Jan. 31 with wins in two of its last three contests. Sebastian Aho collected a goal and an assist in the previous encounter with the Golden Knights and joined Andrei Svechnikov in tallying twice and setting up a goal in a 5-3 victory against Arizona on Thursday.

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: FS Carolinas, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountains

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (31-20-3): Aho (team-leading 29 goals), Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen (club-best 41 assists, 52 points) skated together in Friday's practice -- and for good reason, considering the success the potent line displayed against the Coyotes. "(Assistant coach Jeff Daniels) said, 'We've got to do something there and put those guys back together,'" Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "It was a good call by him. That was the difference in the game. That line was pretty dynamic." Aho is riding a five-game point streak (four goals, three assists), Svechnikov has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last six contests and Teuvo Teravainen has recorded nine (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (28-21-7): Jonathan Marchessault scored on Thursday to extend his point streak to six games (three goals, four assists), with one goal and one assist coming in the previous encounter with Carolina. Max Pacioretty tallied twice against Florida to boost his team-leading goal total to 23, but it was the team's transition play that impressed him the most. "You guys can see how fast and intense we're playing. Especially in our own end," Pacioretty said, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It leads to a lot of great offense but also a lot less time spent in our own end. It's very important for winning hockey games, especially as the games get tighter and the season goes on. That's how you got to play in the playoffs to have success."

OVERTIME

1. Like Aho, Carolina D Jaccob Slavin is riding a five-game point streak (one goal, four assists).

2. Vegas has enjoyed a double-digit advantage in shots in each of its last four games.

3. The Hurricanes have surrendered the first goal in four consecutive contests.

PREDICTION: Hurricanes 4, Golden Knights 2