Game Preview: Avalanche Face Top Team in Pacific Division

The Vegas Golden Knights only have 17 wins through their first 35 games, but they’re the top team in the Pacific Division. Their 44 points are 17 back of the Avalanche, who are the best team in the Central Division, the Western Conference, and the entire NHL.

Colorado is 27-2-7 (61 points), including a 4-2 victory on Oct. 31 in the first meeting between these two clubs, also played at T-Mobile Arena.

READ MORE: Avalanche Game 37 at Vegas Golden Knights: Division Leaders Go Head-to-Head, Lines, Notes & How To Watch

The Avs are riding a six-game winning streak following a 1-0 shutout triumph over the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday. Samuel Girard scored the game’s lone unassisted goal. Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves.

Meanwhile, Vegas enters the matchup 6-2-2 in their last 10. But three of those four losses came right before they bested the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Tuesday. Their 10 OT losses are the most in the NHL, and their eight regulation losses are fewer than every team except Colorado and Dallas.

The Knights won’t have nearly as good a lineup as what they’re capable of. Jack Eichel, William Karlsson, and Shea Theodore will likely miss this game.

Lines remain the same from the Sharks beatdown.

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— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) December 27, 2025

Carter Hart will play for the Knights, making his eighth start in 11 games since being eligible to return on Dec. 1. Hart is 4-1-2 with a .904 save percentage. For the Avs, Wedgewood gets the nod for the second consecutive game.

This is the first time since Nov. 16 and 20 that Wedgewood gets two straight starts. The following game after that was when Blackwood found his stride in a 35-save shutout victory in Nashville. Since then, we’ve seen Blackwood at least once every two games, and for five games in a row while Wedgewood was hurt.

Wedgewood has won his last three starts, all against division rivals at Ball Arena. He’s given up just four goals in that stretch. The Avs’ goalie has two shootout losses in his last two road games.