This weekend is a critical one for the Vegas Golden Knights and they will look to return to winning ways when they host the Calgary Flames at T-Mobile Arena tonight.
After dropping back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins and the Arizona Coyotes in the week, the Vegas Golden Knights face two Pacific Division matchups this weekend, starting against the Flames tonight before hitting the road tomorrow to take on the LA Kings.
Both of those games will be crucial for the Knights in ensuring that they don’t lose ground in the Pacific Division, although they have lots to work on following back-to-back losses.
After opening the season by beating up the San Jose Sharks in a home-and-home double header and outscoring their bitter rivals 9-2 over two games, Vegas has been outscored 8-4 in their last two outings with a lack of secondary scoring and a glut of turnovers costing them as a team.
Things will have to change tonight against a Calalgry team who are 2-1-1 to start the year, a run which included a 3-2 Shootout victory on the road against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Johnny Gaudreau leads the way for the Flames with two goals and four assists for six points in four games, while Matthew Tkachuk has five points (two goals, three assists) and Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan and Mark Giordano all sit on three points.
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There will be lineup changes for the Golden Knights with Cody Eakin set to make his preseason debut after recovering from the upper body injury he suffered in the preseason finale against the San Jose Sharks.
All signs point to Eakin slotting back in as the third line center with Paul Stastny being bumped back up to the second line, while Cody Glass should fill one of the wing roles on the third line after making it nearly impossible to drop him after recording three points (one goal, two assists) in three games.
That means that either one of Valentin Zykov or Brandon Pirri will be watching the game from the press box, and both of those players are probably deserving following an awful last two outings.
Hopefully having Eakin back in the lineup will spark Vegas’ secondary scoring into life, while the center should also help in the faceoff circle, an area the Knights have struggled in at times so far this year.
Oscar Dansk will backup Marc-Andre Fleury after being called up from the AHL following the injury sustained by Malcolm Subban on Thursday, while rookie defenseman Jake Bischoff was also called up from the Chicago Wolves with forward Nicolas Roy and defenseman Jimmy Schuldt both being reassigned to the AHL.
Vegas have been shaky on the blueline over the course of the last two games, so it could be that the defensive pairings are tweaked somewhat with the more defensive-minded Bischoff potentially coming in to make his NHL debut.
Here are our projected lines for tonight’s matchup:
Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith
Pacioretty-Stastny-Stone
Zykov-Eakin-Glass
Carrier-Nosek-Reaves
McNabb-Theodore
Merrill-Holden
Hague-Engelland
Fleury
Alex Tuch (upper body injury) and Nate Schmidt (lower body injury) are still both on the IR, and there is no word yet on when the pair might be available to return.
Let’s go over some of the key information you will need at your disposal ahead of tonight’s game…
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas
TV Broadcast: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: FOX Sports 98.9/1340
Live Streaming: ESPN+ has a free 7-day trial that includes live streaming for this game on all your smart devices! Besides NHL games, ESPN+ features a selection of live games from MLB, MLS, Serie A, FA Cup and EFL. Get in on the action with Live UFC Fight Nights, 30+ Top Rank Boxing Cards, Grand Slam Tennis from Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open.
It is a big game for the Vegas Golden Knights tonight and they will need to be a lot sharper in their own zone to put the shackles on the Calgary Flames’ wealth of offensive talent in order to avoid a third straight loss.
These teams played four games in 2018-19 with the season series ending in an even split, and every point this year will be crucial given that this is a Pacific Division matchup.