Vegas Golden Knights hit the ice in Toronto

Vegas Golden Knights arrived at the Air Canada Centre last night for their first-ever outing against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority hosting members of the travel trade and media to mark the occasion.

The game saw Las Vegas’ new team make their long-awaited Toronto debut, with their Canadian outings continuing tonight (Nov. 7) in Montreal against the Canadiens, next Tuesday (Nov. 14) against Edmonton Oilers, and the following Thursday (Nov. 16) in Vancouver against the Canucks.

Leafs enthusiasts will have one eye on their team’s eagerly-anticipated clash with the Knights in Vegas, set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena on New Year’s Eve; the first Canadian team to play at the Arena during the regular season will be Winnipeg Jets, who travel there this Friday (Nov. 10).

The emergence of the Golden Knights has seen rising interest in travel to Vegas among hockey fans, with redtag.ca recently partnering with online ticket marketplace Fanxchange to offer deals on flight and hotel packages to Vegas. WestJet is also set to inaugurate a new Las Vegas route from Hamilton on Dec. 29, operating twice weekly through April 27, 2018.

As for the game: the Leafs snatched a 4-3 shootout victory in what proved a thrilling contest.