Friday is another busy night in the NHL which features a matchup of two division-leading teams in the Winnipeg Jets and the Vegas Golden Knights. Welcome to NHL Predictions here at Last Word on Hockey, where each day we preview and predict the upcoming slate of NHL games around the league! In this article we will be previewing and predicting the matchup between the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights. Be sure to check out all of our predictions throughout the 2024-25 season and follow along your favourite teams.
NHL Predictions
Vegas Golden Knights vs Winnipeg Jets
Time: 8:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
TV: TSN3, Scripps Vegas; ESPN+
The Central-leading Jets travel to Las Vegas to take on the Pacific-leading Golden Knights. The NHL schedule makers have gifted fans with a post-Thanksgiving treat. Here are two teams that aren’t thankful for one another as quite a rivalry has developed between them since Vegas’ debut in the league. They have owned the Jets to the tune of a 9-1 record over Winnipeg in their last 10 meetings (including playoffs). Winnipeg is a -15 in goal differential across those 10 games and allowed Vegas to score four goals or more in seven straight meetings; all of which are Golden Knights wins.
Forgetful Night in La La Land for Winnipeg
Winnipeg needs to flush their 4-1 loss to the Kings quickly and regroup for another tough matchup. The Jets were uncharacteristically dominated at 5 on 5 play which saw the Kings get to their net all night long. The Kings racked up 33 shots to Winnipeg’s mere 14 shots and carried the 5 v 5 expected goal total (2.89 to 0.97). As well, the forward group for Winnipeg mustered just nine scoring chances for at 5 v 5 play. On a positive note, even though the Jets were poor they had a chance to win the game. Of course, thanks in large part to another solid outing from Connor Hellebuyck (stopped 29 of 32 shots). Furthermore, it was a difficult night for almost all, though the depth pairing of Ville Heinola and Colin Miller were able to hold their own.
Vegas Golden Knights Own Jets
Vegas has utterly dominated this matchup dating back years. Winnipeg has not beat the Golden Knights in the regular season since March of 2022, losing six regular season meetings in a row. Based on their production, it appears some Vegas players have this matchup circled on their calendars. In particular, Mark Stone and William Karlsson have feasted on Winnipeg. In his last four games versus the Jets, Stone has one goal and six assists for an impressive seven point total. As well, Karlsson has posted three goals and four assists in his last five games versus Winnipeg, to go with a plus-9 rating. For Winnipeg, there are not many skaters with noteworthy stat lines against Vegas of late. However, former LA King Alex Iafallo has three goals and one assist in his last three games against the Knights.
Noteworthy Numbers
Despite sitting atop the Pacific division, Vegas as a team is sporting some slightly alarming advanced numbers. At 5 v 5 the Golden Knights are bottom five in the NHL in High Danger Corsi For % (meaning they are giving up a lot more high danger attempts on net than they are producing). They also are among the top three teams in the league in 5 v 5 Save % and 5 v 5 High Danger Save %, numbers that are coming from goaltenders not known for their consistent play in Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov. On the Winnipeg side of things, they are fourth as a team in 5 v 5 Save %. This however is not surprising with a goalie the caliber of Connor Hellebuyck and surely can be sustained.
NHL Predictions – Golden Knights vs Jets
This should be an emotional, hard fought game from both clubs. For Winnipeg there is extra motivation knowing the Golden Knights have owned them for a long stretch of time. It is also a meeting of the league’s two top powerplays (Winnipeg sitting 1st, Vegas 2nd). Vegas is rolling along nicely of late with points in four straight games (3-0-1) while Winnipeg is feeling the grind of their grueling road trip. I think Winnipeg plays much better than they did in Los Angeles but the Fortress will give Vegas an edge in this one.
Prediction: Golden Knights Win 4-3 OT
NHL Prop Bet of the Night
Both Winnipeg and Vegas have prolific offenses and I expect there to be goals aplenty in this matchup. The FanDuel Sportsbook line has the total goals in the game set at O/U 5.5. I would take the over at -130. Vegas has scored over three goals in three of their last four games and this matchup has seen over five goals total in seven of their last nine meetings.
Main photo by: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
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