Playoff Hockey Hits Las Vegas As Golden Knights Take On Kings

LAS VEGAS, NV - When people were debating the legitimacy of professional hockey in Las Vegas and what the name "Golden Knights" has to do with the city, it's hard to imagine any of them could have foreseen the opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs taking place in Sin City. Yet, after a historic inaugural regular season that saw the Knights clinch a Pacific Division title, that's exactly the case. Now, the Golden Knights are poised to launch the franchise's first ever Stanley Cup quest.

The puck drops tonight at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The opening round matchup pits the two division foes against one another. The Kings finished 4th in the Pacific Division this year. During the regular season the two teams split a four-game slate. The Golden Knights won the first two games before the Kings avenged those losses with wins in Los Angeles and Las Vegas on back-to-back nights in February.

The first two games of the opening round series will be played in Las Vegas. Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Los Angeles. Because of the Golden Knights' home field advantage, Games 5, 6, and 7 will rotate between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas respectively, if necessary.

Before Wednesday's Game 1, Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant said the Knights will be without David Perron and Luca Sbisa, as both players are dealing with injuries.

Tickets
Tickets may still be available (depending on when you read this) if you're trying to make it to the game tonight. Click here for more information about tickets.

According to online ticket store TickPick, the Golden Knights/Kings series is the second hottest selling ticket of the entire playoffs. The average price of a ticket for the opening round series is $412.49.

Getting to the game

Traffic, both auto and pedestrian, will be heavy, so plan ahead if you're heading to T-Mobile Arena for the game tonight. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has extended the Golden Knights Express through the playoffs, with rides going for just $2.

Pregame festivities

A number of pregame events will be held at Toshiba Plaza starting at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. On site wil lbe a barber shaving Golden Knights logos into the heads of Knights fanatics, a tatoo artist offering free (yes, free) Golden Knights tattoos up to a certain size, an airbrush artist, face and hair painters, corn toss, a shooting cage, ice sculptures (in the desert?!), TopGolf interactive game, and Vegas Showgirls.

Starting at 5 p.m., rapper Logic will headline a free pregame concert at Toshiba Plaza.

Image via Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock