After a disappointing end to the homestand the Vegas Golden Knights will now hit the road for an eight-game swing.
Going 4-3-0 in total, the Vegas Golden Knights dropped their last three games at T-Mobile Arena and will now look to snap that losing streak against the Buffalo Sabres today.
It is the first contest of a lengthy eight-game slate on the road for the Golden Knights, who have been plagued by inconsistency all year and they find themselves mired in a real fight in a stacked Pacific Division.
Getting on the road can be good for team morale and the Knights will be hoping that a change of scenery sparks an upturn in fortunes.
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However, it won’t be easy against a Buffalo (20-19-7) team fighting for their postseason lives with the Sabres currently seven points out of a Wild Card spot.
The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 outings despite being without forward Jeff Skinner (upper-body) and rookie sensation Victor Olofsson (lower-body).
It helps though that Buffalo can call on franchise center and Captain Jack Eichel, who is carving out a Hart Trophy caliber year right now.
Through 45 games, Eichel leads the Sabres in points with 59 (27 goals, 32 assists) and the forward has recorded points in each of Buffalo’s last seven games (three goals, five assists), in addition to registering 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 22 home games this year.
Eichel is also dangerous on the power play this season with 18 points, while the Sabres have gone 4-for-11 on the man advantage in their last four games (36.4%), and they are ranked 21st on the power play overall this year.
Buffalo also get contributions from other key players on their roster, including from defenseman Rasmus Dahlin who has tallied five points in four straight games, while forward Sam Reinhart has five points (three goals, two assists) in his last five outings.
The Sabres are 6-3-3 against the Pacific Division this year, including 3-1-2 against the division at KeyBank Center.
Buffalo is also ranked 28th on the penalty kill (75.0), 19th in Goals For Per Game (2.93) and 21st in Goals Against Per Game (3.17).
Linus Ullmark will get the start in net for Buffalo against Vegas and the 26-year-old has a 14-12-3 record this year with a 2.81 Goals Against Average and a .911 Save Percentage.
Ullmark has also won seven of his last nine games at KeyBank Center, posting a .918 Save Percentage and a 2.57 Goals Against Average in those games.
For the Vegas Golden Knights (24-18-6), Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start today and the future Hall of Famer is 18-10-3 this season with a 2.84 Goals Against Average and a .907 Save Percentage.
Jonathan Marchessault will return from a five-game absence with a lower-body injury and he should slot straight back in on the top line, while Nic Hague is expected to come back in the lineup with Jon Merrill a healthy scratch.
Heading into today’s game, the Golden Knights are ranked 15th in Goals For Per Game (3.04), 14th in Goals Against Per Game (3.02), ninth on the power play (21.8) and 19th on the penalty kill (79.7).
Head-To-Head
This is the first of two meetings between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Buffalo Sabres this year, with the Knights 3-1-0 all-time against today’s opponents.
The last contest between these two franchises took place on Oct. 16, 2018 with Vegas emerging as 4-1 winners in that game.
And the season series finale between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Buffalo Sabres will take place at T-Mobile Arena on Friday, Feb. 28.
Projected Lineups
Let’s look at the projected lineups for today’s game, per nhl.com:
Vegas Golden Knights
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone
Tomas Nosek – Paul Stastny – Alex Tuch
William Carrier – Cody Eakin – Ryan Reaves
Nicolas Hague – Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jon Merrill
Injured: Cody Glass (lower body)
Buffalo Sabres
Zemgus Girgensons – Jack Eichel – Sam Reinhart
Conor Sheary – Marcus Johansson – Michael Frolik
Johan Larsson – Curtis Lazar – Kyle Okposo
Lawrence Pilut – Rasmus Ristolainen
Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Zach Bogosian, Rasmus Asplund, Scott Wilson
Injured: Victor Olofsson (lower body), Jeff Skinner (upper body), Tage Thompson (upper body), Vladimir Sobotka (lower body).
Game Info
Here is all the essential information you need to know prior to faceoff…
Time: 4:00 p.m. PT
Where: KeyBank Center
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.
Finishing Off
This is a big game for the Vegas Golden Knights who will be hoping that a change of scenery helps to snap a three-game losing streak.
It is also the first game of an eight-game slate on the road for the Knights, who will also be looking to buck a trend that has seen them spot their opponents big leads in the first periods of games.