The Vegas Golden Knights face the Seattle Kraken with both teams looking to improve in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights have a 22-10-5 record and are in second place in the Pacific Division. The Kraken have a 14-14-9 record and are in fourth place in the division but have won their last four games in a row. The Winter Classic never disappoints and a matchup between two of the NHL's newest franchises in T-Mobile Park should be a great one.
The Golden Knights are having a great season with their offense stepping up and scoring 3.32 goals per game. Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and William Karlsson have scored 43 goals and 66 assists to lead the top two lines but the rest of the offense has been great as well. Jonathan Marchessault, Ivan Barbashev, and Chandler Stephenson have combined for 32 goals and 32 assists while defensemen Brayden McNabb and Alex Pietrangelo have added three goals and 28 assists from the point to open up the offense.
The offense has been great but the defense has stepped up as well, allowing only 2.76 goals per game. Brayden McNabb and Alex Pietrangelo have combined for 3.9 defensive point shares and 186 blocked shots while Ben Hutton, Nicolas Hague, and Zach Whitecloud have combined for 4.0 defensive point shares to add depth to the unit. The hope is that Logan Thompson improves in the net as he's struggled with a .902 save percentage and a 2.80 goals-against average on 574 shots with -0.2 goals saved above average.