by Chuck Sommers
Sunday, Nov 07, 2021
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Venue: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI
Where to watch: Bally Sports Detroit, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain
Opening Odds at USA Sportsbooks
DraftKings: Golden Knights -135, Red Wings +115
BetMGM: NL
Caesars: Golden Knights -135, Red Wings +115
Season record
Golden Knights: 6-5-0
Red Wings: 5-5-2
Ben Burns is 5-1-0 through six NHL games this week and has continued to be the consistent one at the rink. Catch Ben’s and other plays available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers.
Golden Knights - Red Wings preview and analysis
Recent form
Golden Knights: won five of six after starting 1-4-0; won 5-2 at Canadiens on Saturday
Red Wings: lost four of five; won 4-3 (OT) at Sabres on Saturday
No Mark Stone. No Max Pacioretty. No William Karlsson, Zach Whitecloud, Nolan Patrick … and now no Jack Eichel. At least not yet.
The Vegas Golden Knights, despite all of those names out -- including that superstar center at the end they acquired on Thursday from the Buffalo Sabres -- are keeping their heads above water and are sitting above .500 in a set of events that wasn’t expected.
The Golden Knights will try for their sixth win in seven games on Sunday, playing the second game of a back-to-back, against the Detroit Red Wings in the pizza barn.
Vegas started this season 1-4-0 with Stone and Pacioretty, their top two leading scorers, out for only a little while now. Stone is eligible to come off LTIR this week, while Pacioretty could see another week or so before he starts ramping up.
But the Golden Knights have held firm in the events since, particularly on Saturday winning 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens after falling behind 2-0 in the first period and being outshot 20-1 thanks to a two-point period from Nick Suzuki.
Yes, that’s 20 as in Twenty.
But Robin Lehner was once again spectacular, making 36 saves and keeping Vegas in the game long enough for the Knights to score five unanswered, including three in the second.
Two of those goals came on the power-play, the Knights’ first instances on the power play this season and are now 2-for-21. Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist to continue his strong play from a two-point night at Ottawa.
"We're going through adversity and we're scratching and clawing to stay in the race and every point matters right now, it's as simple as that," Lehner said. "The League is getting tighter and tighter. You can't fall out of the race early, it's really hard to come back, it doesn't happen that often. You've got to stay in the mix."
And in the mix, the Golden Knights have been with road victories against the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and now the Ottawa Senators and Canadiens. Vegas fell in six games to Montreal in the Cup Semis, with Vegas getting revenge Saturday in its first regular season road win at Bell Centre. Montreal went on to lose the Stanley Cup Finals in five games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The two wins for Vegas have come at a right time after losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-0 shutout on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena at the hands of Jack Campbell.
It’s been a hectic week for Vegas having acquired Eichel after all for Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, but the Golden Knights have to have this good vibe around them knowing the Big Three will arrive at some point. And when it does, things will go haywire.
Which is surprisingly not what’s happening in Detroit right now. The Red Wings are coming off an overtime victory against those same Buffalo Sabres that traded their former captain the other day.
Moritz Seider scored the game-winning goal and has been continuing his upward trajectory of being the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for October.
"Obviously really happy with the 'W' tonight," Seider said. "Great comeback. Huge plays by [goalie Alex Nedeljkovic]saved us a couple times. And obviously it's nice to get the first one."
The Red Wings have not been a horrible team this season, which seems to have shocked plenty of patrons. Entering the first week of November, the Red Wings have been a .500 team and have 12 points. Tyler Bertuzzi has been a major component of that after a four-point night for a team-high 13 points through nine games.
Detroit has tended to give Vegas problems in the past, but the bulk of those issues came with Gerard Gallant on the bench. With Pete DeBoer establishing this culture of physical hockey, it may be a matchup Detroit is not willing to exploit.
The goalies serving as backup will get the starts on Sunday with Laurent Brossoit taking on Thomas Greiss.
Prediction
Both teams are tired, coming off travel and playing an early game. It’s going to come down to goaltending, and after his response last week against Dallas in the overtime win, Brossoit is likely eager to get back out there and win another game. A win for Vegas would be huge returning home for a long-running homestand. Golden Knights 4-2
Betting trends
Vegas is 6-10 ATS in November over the past three seasons.
The Red Wings are 4-7 ATS this season.
Projected lines
Golden Knights:
Jonathan Marchessault -- Nicolas Roy -- Reilly Smith
William Carrier -- Chandler Stephenson -- Evgenii Dadonov
Keegan Kolesar -- Michael Amadio -- Mattias Janmark
Brett Howden -- Jake Leschyshyn -- Jonas Rondbjerg
Nicolas Hague -- Alex Pietrangelo
Alec Martinez -- Shea Theodore
Brayden McNabb -- Dylan Coghlan
Laurent Brossoit
Red Wings:
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Robby Fabbri -- Lucas Raymond
Joe Veleno -- Pius Suter -- Filip Zadina
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Michael Rasmussen -- Adam Erne
Givani Smith -- Mitchell Stephens -- Sam Gagner
Danny DeKeyser -- Moritz Seider
Nick Leddy -- Filip Hronek
Marc Staal -- Jordan Oesterle
Thomas Greiss
Statistical leaders
Golden Knights:
Points: Chandler Stephenson -- 12
Goals: Chandler Stephenson & Jonathan Marchessault -- 5
Assists: Chandler Stephenson -- 7
TOI: Alex Pietrangelo -- 25:43
Goalie: Robin Lehner -- 5-5-0, 2.79 GAA, .919 SV%
Red Wings:
Points: Tyler Bertuzzi & Lucas Raymond -- 13
Goals: Tyler Bertuzzi -- 8
Assists: Lucas Raymond -- 8
TOI: Filip Hronek -- 23:16
Goalie: Alex Nedeljkovic -- 2-2-2, 3.03 GAA, .910 SV%
Don't miss our champion handicappers' free picks and expert hockey picks today. And if you enjoyed this Vegas Golden Knights - Detroit Red Wings prediction, be sure to drop by every day for our daily NHL projections and previews.
Chuck Sommers
About the Author:
Chuck Sommers has camped outside of sportsbooks since he can remember, learning the tricks and nuances of the trade. He still has nightmares of betting $5,000 on the Raiders in the Tuck Rule game but has since turned that to 25 years of veteran handicapping greatness. You can find him mostly in the shadows at the Red Rock or Aliante casinos wondering if the over is cashing on any given Sunday.
