Winning feels different in the desert. It’s louder. It's more chaotic. And if you’ve been watching the Vegas Golden Knights today, you know that "chaotic" might be an understatement for what went down this week at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights just pulled off a 6-5 overtime thriller against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. It wasn't just a win; it was a psychological warfare exercise. Mitch Marner, the man everyone in Ontario spent the last year debating, looked his former team in the eye and basically told them he’s doing just fine in Nevada. He notched two assists, but his impact was everywhere.
Honestly, the energy in the building was weirdly personal. Jack Eichel ended up burying the overtime winner—because of course he did—but the story was the resilience. Vegas trailed 3-1. Then they trailed 4-2. Most teams fold there. This group? They just kept coming.
The Predators Are Rolling Into Town
There's no time to celebrate. Tonight, January 17, 2026, the Vegas Golden Knights today host the Nashville Predators. Puck drop is 7:00 PM PT.
Nashville is coming off a 4-3 win over Edmonton, so they aren't exactly pushovers. They’ve got Steven Stamkos sitting at 20 goals on the year, and if you leave him alone for a second in the circle, he’s going to make you pay. Vegas enters this one with a 23-11-12 record. If you're doing the math, that's 58 points and a seat at the top of the Pacific Division.
People love to argue about the "loser point" in the NHL. Critics say the Knights are technically 23-23 in terms of wins versus total losses. But in the standings, points are the only currency that matters. And right now, Vegas is rich.
The Goalie Carousel: Is Adin Hill Back?
We need to talk about the crease. It’s been a mess. Adin Hill finally returned to the net against Toronto after a three-month absence due to a lower-body injury.
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It was shaky. Really shaky.
He gave up five goals, but he also made a "save of the year" candidate late in the game that essentially kept the Knights alive. With Carter Hart and Akira Schmid holding the fort while Hill was on IR, the dynamic in the locker room has shifted. Hart has been surprisingly steady, sporting a .896 save percentage through some heavy workloads.
But Bruce Cassidy knows you don't win Cups without a clear Number One. Tonight's start against Nashville will tell us a lot about how much leash Hill has as he tries to shake off the rust.
Managing the M.A.S.H. Unit
It’s not just the goalies. The blue line is hurting. Bad.
Alex Pietrangelo is out for the season with a hip injury. That is a massive, gaping hole in the Top 4 that hasn't been fully filled yet. You can see the fatigue in Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore. Theodore is actually on IR right now with an upper-body issue, which has forced Kaedan Korczak and Ben Hutton into much bigger minutes than anyone anticipated back in October.
- William Karlsson: Still week-to-week (lower body).
- Brayden McNabb: Dealing with an upper-body stinger but likely to grind through.
- Mark Stone: He’s been the Iron Man lately, which is a sentence I never thought I’d write.
Stone is on a nine-game point streak. He’s playing like a man possessed, probably because the Olympic break is looming and he wants to lock in that Team Canada captaincy.
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Why the "January Curse" is a Myth This Year
Historically, January is where Vegas goes to die. Statistically, it’s their worst month for points percentage since 2020. They call it the January Slump, and usually, it's where the injuries catch up to the depth.
But this year feels different. They’ve won six straight games.
They aren't just winning "Vegas style" by out-skating people. They are winning ugly. Coming back from two goals down against the Kings and the Leafs shows a level of "mental callousing" that was missing last season. Tomas Hertl has been a big part of that. He’s up to 19 goals and has become the de facto safety net for the second line.
What to Watch for Against Nashville
If you're heading to the Fortress tonight, keep an eye on the power play. Vegas is humming at 26.5%—one of the best marks in the league.
Mitch Marner at the half-wall is a cheat code. He’s finding lanes that don't exist. Nashville’s penalty kill is hovering around 82%, which is decent, but they struggle with cross-seam passes. If Eichel and Marner are clicking, it could be a long night for Juuse Saros or Justus Annunen, whoever the Preds decide to throw into the fire.
Also, watch the matchup between Roman Josi and Mark Stone. Josi is basically a fourth forward for Nashville. If Stone can't neutralize him in the neutral zone, the Knights are going to spend a lot of time chasing the puck.
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Strategy for the Home Stretch
The trade deadline is March 6. With Pietrangelo out, the Vegas Golden Knights today are almost certainly going to be buyers for a veteran defenseman.
Expect Kelly McCrimmon to be aggressive. He always is. Names like Jakob Chychrun or even a reunion with a former Knight might start circulating soon. But for now, the internal growth of guys like Pavel Dorofeyev (who has been a revelation on the wing) is keeping the ship afloat.
To keep this momentum, the Knights need to:
- Shorten the shifts for the bottom pair of defensemen to avoid late-game collapses.
- Get Adin Hill's confidence back to 2023 levels before the February break.
- Keep the "top-heavy" scoring going; Marner, Eichel, and Stone are carrying 60% of the offensive load.
The Pacific Division is tight. Edmonton is breathing down their necks, and the Kraken refuse to go away. Winning these "schedule losses"—the back-to-backs or the games against desperate teams like Nashville—is what secures home-ice advantage in May.
Check the lineup at 6:30 PM for final confirmation on the goaltending split. If it’s Hill, expect some early nerves. If it's Hart, expect a more conservative, defensive structure from Cassidy. Either way, the Golden Knights are the hottest ticket in hockey right now, and the Marner experiment is paying dividends no one expected this early.