The Vegas Golden Knights can clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs Thursday, extending their historic inaugural season beyond comprehension.
No expansion franchise in the history of the NHL — or in modern professional sport, for that matter — has qualified for the postseason in their first season of competition, but the Golden Knights can do just that by beating the San Jose Sharks on the road at SAP Center.
The Sharks are the first-place Golden Knights' greatest challenger and the reason the Pacific Division crown hasn't yet been awarded.
MORE: NHL playoff odds, predictions for 2018 Stanley Cup
Vegas holds an eight-point cushion entering the meeting, the teams' third of four in the regular season (VGK leads 2-0). Both have nine games remaining. That mean it's mathematically possible for the streaking Sharks (8-2-0 in their last 10) to play catch-up. The Golden Knights have fallen off their torrid pace, hovering around the .500 mark for most of the last month, but they're still more likely than not to lock up the the division, even if that trend continues.
San Jose has to be concerned with keeping the rest of the division at bay, too, with both the Kings and Ducks threatening for second place.
As the top seed in the Pacific and second overall in the Western Conference, Vegas stands to draw the first wild-card qualifier.
Watch NHL live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
Sharks vs. Golden Knights
Time: 10 p.m. ET, Thursday, March 22
Location: SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
TV: NBCSN
Streaming: fuboTV (sign up for a 7-day free trial)
