The Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins face-off for crucial points. Welcome back to NHL Predictions here with Last Word On Hockey. Each day, we provide in-depth analysis, insights, and predictions for games around the NHL. In tonight’s matchup, Pittsburgh and Vegas look to gain some momentum, inching closer to the playoffs.
NHL Predictions featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vegas Golden Knights
2025-26 Head-to-Head: Knights 0-1 Penguins
Penguins Story
Pittsburgh comes into this game off a 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the shootout. The loss marks the Penguins’ tenth loss in the shootout this year. Even then, Pittsburgh came down from down two with two minutes left in the game to tie it up, and got a valuable point for doing so. With the loss, the Penguins are 4-2-4 in their last 10 games with an overall record of 32-17-15. Even with a poor stretch recently in which they’ve missed captain Sidney Crosby and assistant captain Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh sits in the second Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoff Wild Card spot, tied with the New York Islanders with a game in hand on New York. Their biggest worry at the moment are the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that has played the same number of games as Pittsburgh and are only three points behind them.
Losing the team’s two best forwards has given others the opportunity to really shine and establish themselves as Pittsburgh’s second line of offence. Anthony Mantha is perhaps the best example of this. The veteran forward scored a goal against Carolina, now with three goals in two games and 24 goals with 48 points in 64 games overall. Bryan Rust similarly showed heroics, scoring two goals, including the goal to tie the game up at four. Egor Chinakhov has silenced doubters as well, scoring one goal and five points without Malkin over the past three games, including two assists against the Hurricanes.
Expect Arturs Silovs to start in net with Stuart Skinner having played last. Silovs is 14-8-8 this season, and has had a renewed confidence since representing Team Latvia at the Olympics.
Now is a good time to remind you to always check official lineups before placing any kinds of bets.
Golden Knights Story
Vegas comes into this game off a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars in regulation. With the loss, the Golden Knights have lost six out of their last seven games. With an overall record of 29-22-14, Vegas sits third in a relatively weak Pacific Division. They, along with the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks, have traded the top three spots in the Pacific on and off throughout the season. Three point separates these three teams, all vying for home ice advantage and a division win. For the Golden Knights, the biggest issue has been establishing an identity with all their turnover and installing a system that works to all of their core players’ strengths.
Defenceman Rasmus Andersson, acquired from the Calgary Flames in mid January, has been unable to live up to offensive expectations from a defenceman of his calibre. At the time of the trade, he had scored 10 goals and 30 points in 48 games for the Flames. Since then, he has scored just one goal and six points in 16 games for Vegas. Off-season acquisition Mitch Marner has similarly seen a good but not characteristically great season. He has 18 goals and 65 points through 64 games with the Golden Knights. This is a bit of a drop off from his 27-goal, 105-point season last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Perhaps the most dangerous player for the Golden Knights, however, is Jack Eichel. Eichel has scored 23 goals and 72 points in 57 games this season. The Penguins will need to find a way to shut down both Eichel and Marner, each of whom likes to centre their own lines in the top six.
In net, expect Adin Hill to start. Hill is 6-6-3 this season with an .859 save percentage. Vegas hasn’t gotten the kind of goaltending they’ve wanted this season, and this could be a weakness Pittsburgh exploits in this game.
NHL Prediction
The Penguins are hungry and don’t like to give up, even when they go down by a goal or two, as these last few games have shown. Vegas, meanwhile, still feels like they’re trying to get a feel for one another and settle their system. Expect a Penguins win in this game.
NHL Prediction: Penguins win 5-3
Prop Bet of the Night
Expect a high-scoring game between these two teams as Pittsburgh’s offence has begun to click even with their absences, while Vegas has struggled to get decent goaltending on the other end. With that, a popular prop bet of goals over seven with odds of +186 is a good bet.
Main Photo: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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