Vegas Golden Knights Ready For Showdown Against Bruins
Vegas Golden Knights look to snap their first losing streak in franchise history against the Boston Bruins Thursday night.
After blowing a 4-2 lead in the third period at Madison Square Garden, the Vegas Golden Knights are looking to get back on track. Tuesday nights affair against the Rangers was definitely the first heartbreaker in Golden Knights history. Their next test on this eastern coast road trip comes against the Boston Bruins.
Both teams are looking to start the month of November on the right foot. The Golden Knights enter the game with a record of 8-3-0 while the Bruins look to snap a two-game skid of their own as they come in at 4-3-3.
Two weeks ago, the Golden Knights picked up a big 3-1 victory over the Bruins at T-Mobile Arena. This time these two squads will be playing at the TD Garden in Boston. However, a ton of things changed since the last time these two teams met.
On the Vegas side, the player that scored the game-winning goal against the Bruins, Vadim Shiapchyov is no longer with the Golden Knights. Also, the team will be without Malcolm Subban who picked up the win against his former club. Marc-Andre Fleury and Oscar Dansk are also on injured reserve the Golden Knights depth at goaltending remain thin. And it’s likely we see Shea Theodore get more ice time than he did in New York on Tuesday night.
From the Bruins perspective, this original six franchise is going to be without a ton of crucial pieces. Boston will be without David Krejci, Ryan Spooner and David Backes It’s not an ideal situation for a team to have three of their four top centermen out with injury. And to add salt to the wounds, Adam McQuaid and Noel Acciari are out with injuries as well.
Players to watch for:
Former Bruins Reilly Smith and Colin Miller make their return to TD Garden tonight. Smith has seven points in his last six games and is getting significant ice time averaging almost 19 minutes per game. Miller has at least one point in the previous six games and eight points overall in that span. I can see big games from both players tonight.
After all the injuries to the Boston centermen, the Bruins had no choice but to reunite Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak on a line. This line has it all, from speed, skill, and defensive awareness. They’re a sight to see when together. This line combination was also one of the best in hockey last season.
Maxime Lagace will start for the Vegas Golden Knights, and Tuukka Rask will take Boston’s crease. Lagace is still looking for his first NHL victory and will look to improve upon his 0-2-0 record, 6.35 GAA and .813 save percentage. Rask won the season opener against Nashville and hadn’t won since. Since that game, he’s 0-3-2 with a GAA of 2.98, and a save percentage of .898.
Golden Knights Projected Lines:
Forwards:
David Perron – Cody Eakin – James Neal
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Erik Haula – Oscar Lindberg – Alex Tuch
William Carrier – Pierre Edouard Bellemare – Tomas Nosek
Defensemen:
Nate Schmidt – Luca Sbisa
Deryk Engelland – Shea Theodore
Brad Hunt- Colin Miller
Extra: Jon Merrill and Brayden McNabb
Goalies:
Maxime Lagace
Dylan Ferguson
Bruins Projected Lines:
Forwards:
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk – Riley Nash – Tim Schaller
Danton Heinen – Jordan Szwarz – Anders Bjork
Matt Beleskey – Sean Kuraly – Frank Vatrano
Extra: Austin Czarnik
Defensemen:
Zdeno Chara – Brandon Carlo
Torey Krug – Charlie McAvoy
Kevan Miller- Paul Postma
Goalies:
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Zane McIntyre
Next: Who Was The Vegas Golden Knights MVP Of October?
All in all, this should be a solid hockey game and another big test for this Vegas Golden Knights squad. Vegas will look to take advantage of a banged up Bruins team, while Boston will try and solve an inexperienced goaltender in Lagace. Catch the game on AT&T Sportsnet Rocky Mountain at 4 PM PT.