LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights can exhale a little heading into a pair of tough back-to-back home games starting with the red-hot St. Louis Blues on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Thanks to Nashville's 5-3 victory over San Jose on Thursday night, the magic number for Vegas to clinch the Pacific Division title is three with five games to go after the second place Sharks (44-24-10) lost for only the second time in 10 games. San Jose plays the final regular-season home game at T-Mobile on Saturday night.
The Golden Knights (48-22-7), who lost at home to Arizona on Wednesday night, have sputtered down the stretch, going 3-3-2 over their last eight games and 7-6-3 in their last 16 games including home losses to bottom-feeders such as Ottawa and the Coyotes.