The set-up: The Edmonton Oilers were expected to be among the top contenders for the Pacific Division title, coming off a 103-point season last year. In contrast, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights were a great unknown, with little expected of them. However, lo and behold, when the teams square off Thursday night in Las Vegas, the 23-28-4 Oilers find themselves a staggering 28 points behind the division-leading 37-15-4 Golden Knights. The fortunes of each team were on display in their respective most recent games. Vegas scored four unanswered goals in the third period of a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks to improve to an NHL-best 20-4-2 at home. Conversely, Edmonton surrendered four third-period goals to visiting Florida in a 7-5 loss on Monday. As the saying goes, "Go figure!"

Edmonton: The loss to Florida was Edmonton's fourth consecutive defeat. "It's frustrating for everyone in this room and the coaching staff," Oilers forward Patrick Maroon said after the game. "Everyone is not happy with our results of late." Cam Talbot, who has lost three starts in a row and saw his goals-against average rise to a career-worst 3.17 after he was beaten six times in Monday's loss to Florida, pointed the finger squarely at himself. "I'd say about four of them I'd like to have back," Talbot said. "Any time you go out and score five goals, you should win a game every night. I didn't give us a chance to win tonight." Connor McDavid has eight tallies and four assists in the last six games, and is having another outstanding season (23 goals and 66 points) but his play has mattered little.

Vegas: David Perron scored one goal and set up another in Tuesday's victory to reach 50 points for the third time in his career (14 goals & 37 assists). Perron has been on a scoring spree over the past month, notching five goals and 12 assists over the past 13 games dating to Jan. 18. The Knights are also receiving scoring from an unexpected source in Ryan Carpenter, a waiver-wire pickup from San Jose, has all three of his goals in the last five games. William Karlsson owns a team-high 29 goals and Jonathan Marchessault owns a team-best 54 points. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is 17-6-2 (2.07 GAA & .932 SP) on the season.

The pick: Vegas is 13-1-1 against Pacific Division teams during its remarkable inaugural season but the fly in the ointment has been Edmonton. The Oilers who are 2-0 against the Golden Knights, winning 8-2 at Rogers Place on Nov. 14 (the worst loss in Vegas' short history) and 3-2 in overtime at T-Mobile Arena on Jan. 13. Take the 1 1/2 goals and make the Oilers an 8* play.