Golden Knights Gameday #48: Make-up Game No. 2: Lines, Notes, vs Flames

The Vegas Golden Knights (28-16-3) finish off game two of their back-to-back make-up game series against the Calgary Flames (23-13-6) Wednesday night. The Golden Knights enter Calgary on a three-game winning streak having most recently defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Against the Oilers, the Golden Knights were very opportunistic and capitalized on the limited chances the Oilers gave them and put up four. William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Brett Howden, and Alex Pietrangelo all scored for the Golden Knights. All players are extending point streaks, especially Howden.

In terms of lineup changes, none are expected for the Golden Knights outside of Robin Lehner starting. Though it would be have been funny if the first game Jack Eichel played as a Golden Knight was against a team that lost out to him in his trade sweepstakes.

For the Flames themselves, they currently sit fourth in the Pacific Division standings with 52 points but have five games at hand against the division-leading Golden Knights. They are led in scoring by a contract-year Johnny Gaudreau who has 54 points in 42 games.

Calgary Hockey Now’s Steve Macfarlane describes the current Flames season as “heavily dependent on the top-line’s production and a strong checking system. But they haven’t yet found their consistency.”

Keys To The Game

Flames First Game Back

Wednesday night’s game will be the first game back to the Flames after the 2022 NHL All-Star Break. They have gone seven days without playing, with their last game being on Feb. 2nd against the Arizona Coyotes. For the Golden Knights, they can take advantage of this as they have had the chance to get back into game shape against the Oilers.

Get Pacioretty a Goal

In last night’s takeaways, I brought up the concern that I have with Max Pacioretty currently as he has gone nine games without a goal. This comes after he took the league by storm in December scoring ten goals in seven games. The 33-year old forward had dealt with various injuries this season such as a wrist injury most recently. There is a strong possibility that Patches may be playing through some pain.

But if deems himself game-ready he needs to be able to contribute and find the back of the net. We have seen players such as Reilly Smith and William Karlsson break their scoring droughts recently. For Pacioretty, he looks to be the next to do so with a goal or two against the Flames.

Swedish Goaltending Battle

Jakob Markstrom vs Robin Lehner will be the goaltending matchup once again between these two teams. If you can recall back to the last time these two teams met, Lehner revealed postgame that he would not be attending the 2022 Winter Olympics (back when the NHL was still planning on going).

In a non-COVID world, Markstrom and Lehner would have likely been the tandem in net for Team Sweden. Instead, the two face off against each other once more Wednesday night. Lehner has had a strong past couple of games and has flown under the radar as one of the best players for the Golden Knights lately. Another win in the books for the VGK’s starter would only boost his confidence.

Projected Vegas Golden Knights Line Combinations

Max Pacioretty- Chandler Stephenson – Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault- William Karlsson– Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark- Nicolas Roy- Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier- Brett Howden- Keegan Kolesar

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton- Dylan Coghlan

Robin Lehner/Laurent Brossoit

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams

19.83% Powerplay (17th) and 80% Penalty Kill (15th)

PP1: Dadonov, Stephenson, Stone, Pacioretty, Theodore

PP2: Roy, Karlsson, Smith, Marchessault, Pietrangelo

PK1: Roy, Stone, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Karlsson, Janmark, Hague, Theodore

Injured Reserve/COVID-19 Protocols/Scratches/Taxi Squad

Jack Eichel (neck), Alec Martinez (face), Zach Whitecloud (foot), Adam Brooks (unknown)

Nolan Patrick (scratched), Michael Amadio (scratched), Daniil Miromanov (scratched)

Projected Calgary Flames Line Combinations

Johnny Gaudreau- Elias Lindholm- Matthew Tkachuk

Andrew Mangiapane- Mikael Backlund- Blake Coleman

Dillon Dube- Sean Monahan- Brett Ritchie

Milan Lucic- Adam Ruzicka- Trevor Lewis

Noah Hanifin- Rasmus Andersson

Oliver Kylington- Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov- Erik Gudbranson

Jacob Markstrom/Daniel Vladar

Calgary Flames Special Teams

21.14% Powerplay (12th) and 84.30% Penalty Kill (3rd)

PP1- Monahan, Lindholm, Tkachuk, Gaudreau, Andersson

PP2- Coleman, Backlund, Mangiapane, Hanifin, Kylington

PK1- Backlund, Lindholm, Zadorov, Tanev

PK2- Lewis, Coleman, Hanifin, Andersson

Injured Reserve/COVID-19 Protocols/Scratches

Tyler Pitlick, Brad Richardson, Michael Stone

How to Watch/Listen

6:30 pm on ESPN+ Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio