Colorado's offensive firepower is well-documented. The Avs haven't been tight defensively of late, however. Look for this game to be higher scoring than expected.

Want to be clear I don't have a super-strong opinion between these two excellent teams: The Knights (6-1-3) and Avalanche (6-1-4) are the only two NHL clubs with one regulation loss. Mostly playing because of the unique start time; if leagues were smart, they'd do more of this to boost interest. I thought maybe I missed some random holiday like Arbor Day or something, but nope. Apparently, it's Nevada Day so that's why the matinee. (Do we have a Florida Day? There would be a lot of gunfire if so, that's for sure.) Others might call it Halloween, but OK. Vegas hasn't lost in regulation at home yet -- scoring at least 4 in each game there -- and we get the OT insurance.

This hasn't been an easy two weeks for the Avs, who snapped a four-game losing streak snapped in Tuesday's 8-4 win over the hot Devils. Now, they're back on the road to T-Mobile Arena, where the Golden knights just took out high-flying Carolina in their last home game on October 20. They also beat Carolina again to close the just-finished 3-game road trip that had previously taken them to the Sunshine State (where Florida and Tampa Bay both won). Jack Eichel has been on a scoring surge for VGK, already up to 19 points, and after a couple of point-free games in Florida, key summer add Mitch Marner was back on the scoresheet with a pair of assists in the win at Raleigh. Play VGK