Golden Knights vs Kraken | NHL Odds, Preview, Prediction

Golden Knights vs. Kraken Odds

The scene shifts to from Vegas to Seattle on Thursday night. The Golden Knights and Kraken will finish off their NHL regular seasons with the second-half of a back-to-back set against each other.

They're both playoff-bound and the Las Vegas Golden Knights can clinch first place in the Western Conference if they can replicate Tuesday's 4-1 outcome. The Seattle Kraken, in just their second NHL season, are sitting in the first wild-card spot in the West. They can take a crack at seizing third in the Pacific Division if they close out their regular-season campaign with a win.

Here's the latest on both teams, and your best bet for Thursday's game between the Golden Knights and Kraken.

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Vegas Golden Knights

As long as they don't lose in regulation on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights will set a franchise record for regular-season points. They boast 109 points — tied with their inaugural campaign in 2017-18 — and also still have a chance to lock down first place in the Western Conference.

It's been an impressive first year for coach Bruce Cassidy. He has led the Golden Knights to success, even though his team's goaltending situation has been up in the air all season and injuries have been an issue.

On the injury front, here are the key names to note. Defenseman Shea Theodore has missed the past seven games with an undisclosed issue. Zach Whitecloud suffered a lower-body injury in Game 80 and is being held out for the rest of the regular season. And Jack Eichel's status is unclear. Eichel had been on an eight-game point streak before missing the past two games with an undisclosed issue.

As for goalie Logan Thompson, he has been on the ice as he works his way back from his latest injury. There's no timetable yet for his return.

That leaves Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick to share goaltending duties, though it was Brossoit who got the win against the Kraken on Tuesday. The pair have mostly been alternating games and Quick has also been playing well — getting to overtime in his past two starts against Dallas and Nashville. Expect to see him get the nod Thursday night.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken saw a five-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in Vegas. Joey Daccord, in his fifth appearance in net, took his first loss of the year. Martin Jones has missed Seattle's past two games with to a hand injury, so there's a good chance Philipp Grubauer will get the nod back on home ice.

Seattle's recent winning streak and 7-3-0 record in its past 10 games look good on paper, but a good chunk of those wins have come against non-playoff teams. The Kraken have had a soft schedule and haven't beaten a playoff-bound squad since their 5-4 overtime win in Dallas on March 21.

Since the trade deadline, the Kraken are a very respectable 12-6-2, and have shown well across all major statistical categories. Even their penalty kill, which struggled earlier in the season, has rebounded to an 84.5% success rate over the past 20 games.

Golden Knights vs. Kraken Pick

The season series between these teams doesn't give bettors much useful information to work with. Vegas has won two of three games, but each team has won once on the road.

Every win has also come with a margin of two or more goals.

Seattle gets a lot of love for its ambiance and enthusiastic fanbase, but the Kraken are only four games above. 500 on home ice. And Vegas, surprisingly, has evolved into an excellent road team (25-7-8).

So, look for the Golden Knights to prevail in this matchup, although perhaps by a tighter margin than Tuesday. Consider a regulation win and bet it at plus money.

Pick: Golden Knights in 60 minutes (+115) | Play to +100