The Prez

THE PLAY: Vegas Golden Knights -1.5 (115)

Pittsburgh played in Denver last night. They lost 5-2 to Colorado, got on a plane, and tonight they're at T-Mobile Arena against a rested Golden Knights team that just put six on Calgary. This is the third stop of a four-game road trip, on the back end of a back-to-back, against the best team in the West. I'm laying the puck line with Vegas.

The bottom line here is Vegas scores in bunches at home, and a tired Penguins team doesn't have the legs to keep up for 60 minutes.

Vegas is 7-2 and ranks third in the league with 3.89 goals a game. They've won their last two by a combined 12-4. On Thursday, Mark Stone had a third-period hat trick, and Eichel added a goal and two assists. They scored four in the third that night, and that's exactly when tired teams fall apart. Pittsburgh's legs will be gone by the third period.

Pittsburgh is 3-4-1 and has given up 3.00 goals a game, and that's with fresh legs. They also win just 45.6% of their faceoffs, 28th in the league, so tonight they'll be chasing the puck while exhausted. Vegas has a 25.7% power play, and tired players take lazy penalties.

The last time these teams met, Vegas won 6-2. Expect more of the same: Vegas builds a lead, Pittsburgh runs out of gas, and the empty-netter seals the second goal of the cushion.

I see a 5-2 Golden Knights win.