Much on the line in Knights’ last game of regular season

The Golden Knights’ last Game 82 didn’t matter.

There was nothing on the line during their 7-4 win in St. Louis on April 29. They were out of the playoffs. The Blues were in, locked into their first-round matchup with the Minnesota Wild. It was something the Knights never wanted to experience again.

Right wing Jonathan Marchessault called it an “awful feeling” in an Enterprise Center hallway that night. Defenseman Zach Whitecloud was even more blunt.

“Yeah, it sucks,” he said.

The Knights’ next Game 82 on Thursday will be different. They can cap off their comeback season by clinching their third division title in six years and the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the Seattle Kraken.

All it will take is one point against a team they beat at home 4-1 Tuesday. The Knights could also win the Pacific if Edmonton drops at least one point in its 6 p.m. game against San Jose.

“It just feels like this type of year, right?” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re going to go right down to the last game to get things squared away.”

Earning another banner isn’t the only thing the Knights can do Thursday.

They’re one win away from matching the franchise record of 51 set their inaugural season. They can break the team record for points (109) by picking up one more. The Knights will also tie their goals record if they score three against the Kraken.

That such lofty targets are in sight is incredible given the team has played without captain Mark Stone for its last 38 games and has started five goaltenders since the All-Star break.

The Knights have found a formula for success through defense, depth scoring and camaraderie that’s made them a difficult out for just about every team in the NHL.

“I think we’re trending in the right direction right now,” left wing Reilly Smith said. “We’re getting different people scoring and contributing on a nightly basis.”

The Knights have no plans to ease off the gas Thursday.

Two of their key players, center Jack Eichel and defenseman Shea Theodore, will travel with the team to Seattle and have a chance to play. Eichel, who has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, practiced with no restrictions Wednesday. Theodore, who has been out the last seven with an undisclosed injury, skated in a no-contact jersey.

Eichel has plenty of incentive to play and play well. He appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday morning and was told if he scores a hat trick in a game the rest of the season, the program will donate $100,000 to the charity of his choice.

“That would be awesome to be able to donate that to a charity,” Eichel said. “That’s a really cool initiative that they do.”

The Knights, in addition to possibly getting some bodies back in the lineup, are likely to put their best foot forward in goal.

Cassidy said the plan is for Laurent Brossoit to start for the seventh time in 10 games Thursday after making 20 saves against the Kraken on Tuesday. Cassidy hasn’t named the Knights’ Game 1 starter for the playoffs yet but said it’s “trending toward” Brossoit based on the 30-year-old’s play.

Brossoit, with a 6-0-3 record, has the longest stretch of starts without a regulation loss to open a season since Jean-Sebastien Aubin was 9-0-2 for Toronto in 2005-06.

How well Brossoit and the rest of the Knights play will determine what the team’s path to the Stanley Cup looks like. They could still face Los Angeles, Seattle or Winnipeg in the first round depending on how things shake out. If the Knights get at least a point against the Kraken, they’ll lock in a matchup with the Jets in addition to a division title.

”It would definitely be nice for our group,” Marchessault said. “We worked hard for that, so hopefully we can achieve it.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.