Brandon Saad scored off a rebound from the left circle 18 seconds into the third period to put Vegas ahead for good and the Golden Knights extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Ivan Barbashev and Tomas Hertl also scored, while Adin Hill made 32 saves for the Golden Knights (34-17-6), who have won three in a row. Jake DeBrusk scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 32 saves for the Canucks (26-19-11), who had won three in a row before the 4 Nations Face-off break.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions. Each day, Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are scheduled and offers insight and analysis to help predict who will be victorious in head-to-head matchups.

With NHLers returning to the international stage, the next big event is the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Milano Cortina, Italy, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22.

Analyzing Saturday’s Vancouver Canucks at Vegas Golden Knights odds and lines, with NHL expert picks, predictions and best bets.

In a shocking twist, it’s hard to win hockey games when you score just one goal. And if there’s a theme to this 2024-25 Vancouver Canucks season, it’s been the consistent power outage for the local heroes when they’ve got the puck on their stick.