The Vegas Golden Knights have played their best hockey this season under new coach Pete DeBoer, who feels he now has a luxury added to his lineup as his team heads to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Friday to open a five-game road trip.Since DeBoer came on board Jan. 15 to replace the fired Gerard Gallant, Vegas has worked its way to the top of the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights started a season-best eight-game winning streak on Feb. 13 and sport a 9-1-0 record over their last 10 outings.And at last week's trade deadline, general manager Kelly McCrimmon added goaltender Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks for backup goalie Malcolm Subban, a prospect and a 2020 pick.The big Swede gives Vegas a strong 1-2 punch in net with Marc-Andre Fleury, who led the team to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. In Lehner's most recent start -- his second behind his new teammates -- he stopped all 27 shots by the New Jersey Devils in his 300th career game as the Golden Knights won 3-0 Tuesday at home."I think the new NHL, you see everybody's trending towards more rest, fresher guys, using two goalies and it's a great luxury for a coach to have," DeBoer said.Friday's contest will be the Golden Knights' second against the Central Division Jets this season. On Nov. 2 in Las Vegas, speedy Winnipeg forward Kyle Connor scored in overtime to beat then-coach Gallant and the third-year franchise 4-3 as the Golden Knights dropped to 8-5-2 on the young season.But it's been nothing but great times since DeBoer, who took New Jersey to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 and led the San Jose Sharks there in 2016, took over almost two months ago to become the second coach in the Knights' history.Vegas owns a sporty 13-4-2 mark in DeBoer's tenure so far, jump-starting the club and propelling it to the division's summit.Opposing coach Paul Maurice and the Jets, on the other hand, find themselves on the precarious ledge of possibly holding a wild-card spot on one night, then barely being out the next.On a nightly basis, Winnipeg has found itself checking out the scores of games involving the Vancouver Canucks, Arizona Coyotes, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and even Chicago as the two wild-card spots fluctuate as victorious results come in.Connor helped add another one to the win column Tuesday when the Jets opened their three-game homestand with a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The 23-year-old left wing scored twice, extending his goal streak to four games and setting a career high with 35 this season, and added an assist on the eventual game winner.The Big Ten Conference's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in 2015-16 while at Michigan -- his only campaign with the Wolverines -- Connor has tallied 100 goals in 226 games over the last three seasons in Manitoba."He doesn't need much time to get the puck off his stick," said Maurice. "He's very quick to holes, so Mark (Scheifele) and Blake (Wheeler) are so strong on the puck they can buy that half-second for Kyle to find a hole, and he's going to get it off his stick real quick, so it's tough for goalies to handle." --Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Vegas Golden Knights
Winnipeg Jets
Pick Center
NHL
FINAL (3/6/2020)
1WinningPickADay
