The Vegas Golden Knights are back tonight after getting about a week off since their last game. If you re-call, their last game against the Calgary Flames didn’t go quite as planned, in fact it was terrible in more ways than one.
First off, the Vegas Golden Knights lost that game 0-6. The loss, although awful to begin with, was even worse because they will need to show they can beat the Flames if they want to ever prove that they can win the cup.
Second off, goalie, Robin Lehner and forward, Mark Stone, were confirmed as injured after the game. Robin Lehner started in net that game and finished, but it was reported that Lehner is now battling an injury. As for Stone, he was just placed onto the LTIR. However, that one isn’t as important because his replacement isn’t really that bad.
It was confirmed a couple days ago by both Pete DeBoer and Kelly McCrimmon that newly acquired Jack Eichel would be activated prior to the game tonight against the Avalanche. As a Golden Knights fan, this is such a relief.
We’ve been waiting to see Jack Eichel suit up as apart of the Golden Knights for a long time now, and we finally get to see it. Hopefully you got your seatbelt on because we are in drive and moving fast.
Jack Eichel has been practicing with the team over the last month, and through all reports that were released to the media, Eichel has been wanting to get back on the ice for some time. However, because of the situation that would’ve come if Mark Stone wouldn’t have been put on the LTIR, they were holding off on his return.
Now that Mark Stone is on the LTIR, the Knights now have the cap space in order to activate Eichel without having to trade a player away. Which is a huge plus. But the question need’s to be asked and answered: What should we expect from Eichel tonight?
We’ll Jack Eichel is going to be a very good player regardless of the circumstance. We know that his speed and shot are going to be something to watch for, but this is his first game back in some time. Let’s not get our expectations too high. He’ll more than likely be eased back into things. Furthermore, it’s his first game as a Golden Knight which means he hasn’t played a game with his line mates yet.
So, with that being said, it’s likely that he’ll receive probably 14:00-16:00 minutes on the ice. They don’t want to over-work him in his first game back, you want to make sure that everything is okay and that he’ll be good down the stretch.
Next, I’d expect him to center the first-line with Max Pacioretty and Evgenii Dadonov. Eichel has been practicing at the first-line center with Max Pacioretty on the left wing and Evgenii Dadonov on the right. With Stone out, I’d expect Dadonov to fill that role and Stephenson will likely move to the third-line center spot.