Florida @ Vegas preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 6, 2020 ) Vegas 7, Florida 2

The Vegas Golden Knights are starting to resemble the team that rolled to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inagural season, particularly with their stellar play of late at T-Mobile Arena. The surging Golden Knights, battling for first place in the Pacific Division, vie to wrap up a perfect five-game homestand against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

Vegas ended red-hot Tampa Bay's 11-game winning streak on Thursday and also posted victories over Washington, the New York Islanders and defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis on the homestand. “These last four games have been against strong opponents, so we should feel good about our game,” forward Max Pacioretty said after the 5-3 win over the Lightning. “But we should know the reason why we’re talking about it is because of doing work in the dirty areas and helping each other out.” Thursday's win marked the fourth time in seven games that the Golden Knights had scored at least five goals, beginning with a 7-2 rout of the Panthers, who fell to 2-1-0 on their five-game road trip after Thursday's 5-4 loss at Los Angeles. "We've got to play hard every night and come out like it's a playoff game because right now it is," forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "We can't let these games (slip away). Right now, it's huge."

TIME: 10 p.m. ET. TV: AT&T Sportsnet-Rocky Mountain, FS Florida

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (32-23-6): Leading scorer Huberdeau matched his career high with a four-point night (one goals, three assists) Thursday to give him three tallies and eight points during a five-game streak. Huberdeau, who had two assists in the last meeting versus the Golden Knights, set up a pair of goals by captain Aleksander Barkov, who reached 20 for the fifth sraight season and 60 points for the third season in a row. Florida ended an 0-for-19 drought on the man advantage by scoring a pair of power-play goals versus the Kings.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (32-22-8): Defenseman Alec Martinez, acquired in a trade with Los Angeles on Wednesday, wasted no time making an impression on his new team by scoring one goal and setting up another in his Vegas debut. "It's pretty incredible to be able to play with a hockey club of this caliber. I kept saying on the bench 'This is a fun group to play with,'" said Martinez, who also notched his 200th career point. Pacioretty has seven goals and 10 points in his last seven games, including two and three versus Florida.

OVERTIME

1. Vegas traded F Cody Eakin to Winnipeg on Friday in exchange for a conditional fourth-round draft pick.

2. Panthers D Aaron Ekblad has seven assists over his last five games.

3. Golden Knights F Mark Stone has 11 points in the last seven games, including five versus Florida.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 4, Panthers 3