Golden Knights Gameday #30: Greetings Gerard Gallant: Lines, Notes vs Rangers

The Vegas Golden Knights (18-11) will enter Madison Square Garden on Friday night to take on the New York Rangers (19-7-3). The Golden Knights will visit two former members of the organization in Ryan Reaves and Gerard Gallant.

The fan-favorite Reaves spent parts of four seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights as a notorious instigator. He racked up 158 penalty minutes in 209 career games played with the Golden Knights. During the offseason, he was traded to the New York Rangers for a 2022 third-round pick.

Jesse Granger of the Athletic asked Jonathan Marchessault if he plans on saying anything to Ryan Reaves. “You gotta think so. He’s a funny guy. I definitely miss the guy. Great teammate and I’m definitely excited to see him out there,” said Marchessault.

Gallant was the first-ever coach in Golden Knight’s history and coached the team from 2017 to 2020. His record in that span was 213-118-75. Gallant was fired on January 16th, 2020, and was replaced by Golden Knight’s current head coach Peter DeBoer.

Marchessault also confirmed to Granger that he has not spoken to Gallant since he was hired as the Rangers’ new head coach.

“I haven’t talked to him since he’s been with the Rangers. I’m super happy for him, and happy that they’re doing great. Obviously, I want to have a strong game and win. Except I’m happy if they have success,” said Marchessault.

Laurent Brossoit, who technically played in Thursday night’s game, is expected to get the start in net for the Golden Knights with it being a back-to-back. No other lineup changes are expected from the Golden Knights. Shea Theodore is still expected to be out with a non-COVID illness.

The Rangers have been a solid team this season and are currently tied for first in the Metropolitan Division. Unsurprisingly they have been led in scoring by Russian sniper Artemi Panarin who has 33 points in 29 games. However, Panarin will be unavailable for the Rangers as he is out with a minor day-to-day injury.

Reining Norris Trophy defenseman Adam Fox is also having a solid season. He has 26 assists in 29 games played and is proving to be one of the top defensemen in the NHL. With Igor Sheserkin out with a lower-body injury, Alexander Georgiev will start for the Rangers Friday night.

PROJECTED VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LINES

Offense

Max Pacioretty- Chandler Stephenson- Mark

Jonathan Marchessault- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark- Nicolas Roy- Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier- Brett Howden- Keegan Kolesar

Defense

Nicolas Hague– Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Zach Whitecloud

Ben Hutton- Dylan Coghlan

Goalie

Laurent Brossoit/Robin Lehner

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams

Special Teams: 17.57% Powerplay (22nd) and 78.57% Penalty Kill (23rd)

PP1: Dadonov, Stephenson, Stone, Pietrangelo, Pacioretty

PP2: Smith, Karlsson, Marchessault, Coghlan, Roy

PK1: Stephenson, Stone, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Howden, Kolesar, Hague, Whitecloud

Injured Reserve/COVID-19 Protocols

Jack Eichel, Nolan Patrick, Alec Martinez, Shea Theodore

PROJECTED NEW YORK RANGERS LINES PER PUCKPEDIA

Offense

Chris Kreider- Mika Zibanejad- Kaapo Kakko

Filip Chtyil- Ryan Strome- Dryden Hunt

Alexis Lafreniere- Barclay Goodrow- Julien Gauthier

Kevin Rooney- Greg McKegg- Ryan Reaves

Defense

Ryan Lindgren- Adam Fox

K’Andre Miller- Jacob Trouba

Patrick Nemeth- Libor Hajek

Goalie

Alexander Georgiev/Keith Kinkaid

New York Rangers Special Teams

25% Powerplay (6th) and 84.09% Penalty Kill (6th)

PP1: Kreider, Strome, Kakko, Zibanejad, Fox

PP2: Lafreniere, Chytil, Gauthier, Trouba, Miller

PK1: Goodrow, Rooney, Nemeth, Miller

PK2: Zibanejad, Kreider, Lindgren, Fox

Injured Reserve/COVID-19 Protocols

Sammy Blais, Igor Shesterkin, Nils Lundkvist, Artemi Panarin

How to Watch/Listen: 4:00 pm on ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM.