We are starting to get back to some sense of normality now following a bombshell week, and the Vegas Golden Knights will be looking to win consecutive games by beating the Montreal Canadiens today.
With the earth-shattering news of Wednesday now in the rearview mirror, the Vegas Golden Knights (25-19-6) can once again focus on hockey before the All-Star Break.
Peter DeBoer, who was named as Gerard Gallant‘s replacement on Wednesday, earned his first win on Thursday thanks to the Knights’ success over the Ottawa Senators.
Attention will now switch to the Canadiens (21-21-7) who are 6th in the Atlantic Division with 49 points from 49 games following a 3-6-1 record in their last 10 outings.
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Despite boasting Carey Price in goal, Montreal is not living up to expectations and they will have a decision to make soon as to whether or not they will be buyers or sellers at the Trade Deadline.
Former Golden Knight Tomas Tatar has been on an absolute tear for the Canadiens this year, leading his time in points with 43 (17 goals, 26 assists).
Then there is Ilya Kovalchuk who has been a revelation since signing a one-year, two-way prove-it deal with the Canadiens on Jan, 3.
The Russian sniper has seven points (three goals, four assists) in seven games and he has really provided Montreal with an offensive punch.
Carey Price, who will get the start in goal for the Canadiens tonight, is 19-16-4 this year with a 2.82 Goals Against Average and a .909 Save Percentage.
Veteran defenseman Shea Weber is also having a red hot year with 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points through 49 games.
It hasn’t been a stellar year for the Canadiens and they rank 16th in the NHL in Goals For Per Game (3.02), and 18th in Goals Against Per Game (3.10).
Montreal is also average to bad when it comes to special teams, ranking 12th on the power play (20.7) and 22nd on the penalty kill 78.6.
Vegas Golden Knights Head Coach Peter DeBoer confirmed that he will stick with the same lineup that beat the Ottawa Senators, which means that Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start in goal.
Franchise center William Karlsson is still considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
This Season
The Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens have met once already this year, with Vegas losing a tough one in overtime at T-Mobile Arena on Oct. 31.
This is also the season series finale between the two teams so the Golden Knights will be hoping to even the series today.
Projected Lineups
Let’s look at today’s projected lineups, per nhl.com:
Vegas Golden Knights
Max Pacioretty – Paul Stastny – Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault – Chandler Stephenson – Reilly Smith
Tomas Nosek – Cody Eakin – Alex Tuch
William Carrier – Nicolas Roy – Ryan Reaves
Nicolas Hague – Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Jon Merrill
Injured: William Karlsson (upper body), Cody Glass (lower body)
Montreal Canadiens
Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Ilya Kovalchuk
Max Domi – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia
Ryan Poehling – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Artturi Lehkonen
Nick Cousins – Nate Thompson – Dale Weise
Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber
Carey Price
Scratched: Cale Fleury, Jordan Weal
Injured: Brendan Gallagher (upper body), Paul Byron (upper body), Jonathan Drouin (wrist)
Game Info
Here is all the essential information you need to know prior to faceoff…
Time: 4:00 p.m. PT
Where: Bell Centre
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 another big game for the Vegas Golden Knights who will look to make up some ground in the Pacific Division.
It will also be an interesting game in terms of seeing what new Head Coach Peter DeBoer does with his systems.