March 1, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27) and right wing Mitch Marner (93) chat on the ice during the third period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Vegas Golden Knights play their first home game in over a month when they host the Minnesota Wild in Las Vegas on Friday night.
Vegas hasn’t played at T-Mobile Arena since a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 5, the team’s final game before the Olympic break. The Pacific Division leaders return to action on a five-game road trip that concluded with a 4-3 upset win at Detroit on Wednesday.
The win over the Red Wings snapped a three-game losing streak and marked the fifth time this season that Vegas overcame a two-goal deficit to win. Ivan Barbashev and Mitch Marner each scored in the third period to tie the game at 3-3, and Tomas Hertl completed the comeback with a 4-on-3 power play goal at 2:11 of overtime.
“Hopefully that carries us because we knew it wasn’t ideal hockey, but we got two points and that’s all that matters right now,” Hertl said.
Vegas continues to struggle with slow starts, having outscored 15-4 in the first two periods for five games on the road. The Golden Knights came back and won 6-4 over the Kings, needing five third-period goals to start the trip, lost 3-2 in Washington, lost 5-0 in Pittsburgh and lost 3-2 again in Buffalo before coming back strong against the Red Wings.
“To be honest with you, we’re not used to losing that many games in a row,” Las Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.
The good news is that Vegas plays six of its next seven games at home, starting with Friday’s game against Minnesota, and remains one point ahead of second-place Anaheim in the tight Pacific Division race.
“Now we can play more games at home,” Hertl said. “We have to prove that we can be the team we need to be because there are some tough teams coming in. We need to start at home because we know we can be a lot better there.”
Minnesota, third in the Central Division, posted an impressive 5-1 win over Atlantic Division leader Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Kirill Kaprizov, who hit the post three times early in the contest, scored an empty-net goal to seal the win and break the franchise career scoring record previously held by Marian Gaborik with 219.
“it’s crazy.” Kaprizov said. “Three posts? I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ We had so many chances and we didn’t score.”
The goal was Kaprizov’s 35th of the season, tying him for second in the league with teammate Matt Boldy, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Montreal’s Cole Caufield and six behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (41).
Both teams were busy ahead of the trade deadline. Minnesota, which made a splash by acquiring defenseman Quinn Hughes from Vancouver on Dec. 13, acquired 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward Michael McCarron from Nashville for a second-round draft pick on Tuesday and added veteran defenseman Jeff Petrie from the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday.
McCarron, who has dropped the gloves three times in recent years with Wild defenseman Jake Middleton and once with forward Marcus Foligno, is expected to play a key role on the penalty kill and faceoff. He practiced with the team on Thursday.
“We are very excited to have such a well-oiled machine,” said McCarron. “Minny is a really good team to play against. We have played well against a lot of the players in this team and I am delighted to now be playing for them. I am very excited.”
Petry is scheduled to meet the team in Las Vegas. The Wild also play Sunday afternoon at Central leader Colorado before opening a four-game homestand against Utah on Tuesday.
Vegas, which placed captain Mark Stone on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Thursday, acquired veteran forward Nick Dowd from Washington and acquired goaltender Jesper Bigman, a 2027 third-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick.
–Field level media
