Vegas Golden Knights: What to expect from preseason tilt against Avs

The Vegas Golden Knights will play their second game of the preseason tonight when they take on the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center – 6:00 p.m. PT.

After beating the Arizona Coyotes 6-2 at the T-Mobile Arena on Sunday, the Vegas Golden Knights are now on the road for three consecutive games, starting with tonight’s matchup against the Avalanche.

So, what should we expect? Well, for starters, it has already been confirmed by Head Coach Gerard Gallant that Garret Sparks will get the start between the pipes tonight. The goalie, acquired in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the off-season, will get his first opportunity to impress the coaching staff in a live game situation later and it will be interesting to see how he looks.

Although he will start 2019-20 with the Chicago Wolves in the AHL with Malcolm Subban already confirmed as the Golden Knights’ backup, Sparks will be eager to shake off the rust early after enduring a frustrating end to 2018-19 with the Leafs, which saw the 26-year-old assigned to work after suffering a concussion and going 2-7-0 down the stretch with 3.30 Goals Against Average and a .899 Save Percentage.

Far from ideal numbers and Sparks was only called back up to the big leagues for Games 1 and 2 of Toronto’s Eastern Conference First Round matchup against the Boston Bruins due to the fact that backup goalie Michael Hutchinson was on a leave of absence ahead of the birth of his child.

So, tonight will be an early test for Sparks to see if he can settle into a groove early and start to restore some confidence after what was a rocky last year with the Leafs. Goaltending is vital in hockey so you can never have enough good goalies and the Knights will be hoping that they can tap into Sparks’ potential.

There are other things to look out for tonight, too. Gerard Gallant also told the media this week that he is going to experiment with Alex Tuch on the penalty kill, and we did a deep dive on whether or not that could work earlier, which you can read here.

Whether Tuch features for the first time in the preseason tonight remains to be seen, but what we do know is that the lineup will probably be similar to the one that took to the ice against Arizona on Sunday. It will be a mishmash of rookies out to impress coupled with established stars that need to blow off the cobwebs.

Cody Glass, who centered a top line featuring Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith on Sunday, is likely to log big minutes again tonight as he continues to stake his claim for a spot on the opening night roster, while the likes of Valentin Zykov and Nicolas Roy will also look to catch the eye if they play later.

There should also be a youthful look to the blueline again as the battle for a roster spot rages on, with Dylan Coghlan without doubt the standout of the four rookie defensemen that played against the Coyotes on Sunday. Meanwhile, Nic Hague could get his first taste of preseason action tonight after being a healthy scratch at the weekend and he too is hoping to crack the roster.

Max Pacioretty, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Nick Holden, Brayden McNabb and Malcolm Subban all made their preseason debuts on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see if the likes of William Karlsson, Paul Stastny, Mark Stone and Nate Schmidt feature against the Avs tonight.

What about the Colorado Avalanche? There could well be an early reunion with center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare tonight, who joined the Avs in free agency after recording 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 148 games for the Golden Knights over a two-year span, in addition to three points (three assists) in 26 postseason contests.

Colorado are expected to give a plethora of rookies and prospects a chance to impress against the Golden Knights tonight, while they do have a boatload of more established players on the injured list at the moment:

• Ian Cole (hips)
• Kevin Connauton (cheek bone)
• Erik Johnson (shoulder)
• Colin Wilson (shoulder)
• Nikita Zadorov (lower body)

This is the first of two meetings between the Golden Knights and the Avalanche this preseason, with Vegas 1-1 against Colorado in the preseason in each of the last two summers.

Tonight, as was the case on Sunday, will revolve around developing line chemistry and running the rule over certain prospects and role players for the Golden Knights, while easing veterans back into the fold. Results don’t matter in the preseason and these exhibition games are all about getting the Vegas Golden Knights equipped and ready for the regular season.

The game is a 6:00 p.m. PT faceoff and Vegas fans can catch the action on KTNV Channel 13 or FOX Sports Radio 98.9/1340 in Las Vegas.