Golden Knights Gameday #25: Hispanic Heritage Night: Lines, Notes vs Stars

The Vegas Golden Knights (14-10) will be back in action Wednesday night as they take on the Dallas Stars (13-8-2) for a 7:00 pm face-off at home. The team will be hosting Hispanic Heritage Night and will wear special jerseys during warmups which the Golden Knights have teased on Twitter. As always, these jerseys will be signed and then auctioned off during the game via The Golden Knights Foundation or by texting “Heritage2021” to 76278.

ooooohhhhh 👀 pic.twitter.com/XEcC4y2IXt

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) December 8, 2021

The Golden Knights had an optional morning skate Wednesday morning so we do not have anything exact for the Golden Knights line combinations. Max Pacioretty missed Tuesday’s practice and Adam Brooks played on the top line with Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone. It was likely a maintenance day for Pacioretty so don’t worry.

The Golden Knights aren’t projected to have any lineup changes from last game against the Flames to today. But compared to the last time the Stars and Golden Knights played each other this is a completely different Golden Knights roster.

Here were the Golden Knights forward line combinations the last time they played the Dallas Stars (10/27/21) #VegasBorn
Marchessault- Karlsson- Smith
Krebs- Stephenson- Janmark
Dadonov- Roy- Kolesar
Carrier- Leschyshyn- Howden

— Owen Krepps (@OKrepps85) December 8, 2021

“From our game perspective, I think we are starting to turn the corner with having guys back. I think it’s going to be a different test than when we were in Dallas with a limited lineup. It’s going to be a fun game,” said Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore.

The Dallas Stars enter Las Vegas with the fifth-best record in the NHL’s Pacific Division. They are led in scoring by Joe Pavelski as the 37-year old has 19 points in 22 games. It has been a consistent trend for the Stars to not get consistent scoring out of their top-two players in Jaime Benn and Tyler Seguin who sit sixth and eighth on the team in scoring respectively.

“They play to their identity they are big, they are heavy, and they are skilled. They have got defenseman that can really get up in the rush and when they are getting really good goaltending like they are lately they are a real tough out,” said Golden Knights head coach Peter DeBoer on the Stars.

If the team can tap into the same mindset that they had against the Calgary Flames, the Golden Knights will find themselves on top once more. The VGK played perhaps their best game of the season Sunday night in a tight game against a division rival. William Karlsson being back in the lineup has allowed for so much more depth in the team’s line combinations. The powerplay, led by Pacioretty, has also been stellar as of late as it comes out of the early season slump that it had.

PROJECTED VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LINES

Offense

Max Pacioretty- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark– Nicolas Roy- Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier- Keegan Kolesar- Michael Amadio

Defense

Nicolas Hague– Alex Pietrangelo

Shea Theodore- Zach Whitecloud

Brayden McNabb- Dylan Coghlan

Goalie

Robin Lehner/Laurent Brossoit

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams

Special Teams: 14.29% Powerplay (27th) and 83.32% Penalty Kill (8th).

PP1: Stone, Stephenson, Dadonov, Theodore, Pacioretty

PP2: Smith, Karlsson, Marchessault, Pietrangelo, Hague

PK1: Stephenson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Howden, Janmark, Hague, Hutton

Injured Reserve

Jack Eichel, Nolan Patrick, Alec Martinez

PROJECTED DALLAS STARS LINES PER PUCKPEDIA

Offense

Jason Robertson- Roope Hintz- Joe Pavelski

Jacob Peterson- Jamie Benn- Alexander Radulov

Michael Raffl- Radek Faksa- Tyler Seguin

Joel Kiviranta- Luke Glendening- Denis Gurianov

Defense

Ryan Suter- John Klingberg

Esa Lindell- Miro Heiskanen

Andrej Sekera- Jani Hakanpaa

Goalie

Brayden Holtby/Jake Oettinger

Dallas Stars Special Teams

26.23% Powerplay (5th) and 80.88% Penalty Kill (19th)

PP1: Radulov, Pavelski, Robertson, Hintz, Klingberg

PP2: Benn, Seguin, Gurianov, Suter, Heiskanen

PK1: Glendening, Kero, Suter, Heiskanen

PK2: Hintz, Pavelski, Lindell, Hakanpaa

Injured Reserve

Ben Bishop

How to Watch/Listen: 7:00 pm on TNT and Fox Sports 98.9 FM.