Golden Knights Gameday 8: Ironman: Lines and Notes vs Sharks

For the first time this season, the Vegas Golden Knights (5-2-0, ten points) take on their Pacific Division rival, the San Jose Sharks (2-6-0, four points), at SAP Center in San Jose, California.

As soon as he steps on the ice for his first shift, Phil Kessel will break the NHL’s ironman record and become the new holder of the longest consecutive regular season games played streak.

The Golden Knights are coming off a 3-1 home win against the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday. They will be playing in their first back-to-back game Tuesday against the Sharks. Off to a rough start, the Sharks are coming home after earning their second win of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers.

What to Watch For

Goal No. 400 Take Two

Kessel started his record-tying game Monday night in perfect fashion, scoring a powerplay goal for his 400th career NHL goal and first as a Golden Knight. But due to an offsides challenge by the Maple Leafs, the goal was called back. The “400th career goal puck” was taped up on the bench and everything.

Perhaps in the true record-passing game, Kessel will be able to score this goal finally.

Hill Revenge Tour

With the Golden Knights playing their first back-to-back of the season, Logan Thompson will likely get the night off, and Adin Hill will play against his former team, the Sharks. Hill is 2-0 on the season with wins against the Chicago Blackhawks and Winnipeg Jets. He spent last season with the Sharks and played in 25 games for them.

Swimming with the Sharks

The rivalry has died down a lot since the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Golden Knights and Sharks. Guys like Evander Kane, Ryan Reaves, Brent Burns, and Max Pacioretty have left the rivalry. But there is still some animosity between the two franchises. The VGK are 25-11 all-time against the Sharks.

Projected Vegas Golden Knights Line Combinations

Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel- Mark Stone (c)

Jonathan Marchessault- William Karlsson- Reilly Smith

Michael Amadio- Brett Howden- Phil Kessel

William Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stone, Eichel, Stephenson, Marchessault, Pietrangelo

PP2: Roy, Karlsson, Smith, Kessel, Theodore

PK1: Roy, Stephenson, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Karlsson, Stone, Martinez, Whitecloud

IR/Scratches

Paul Cotter, Jake Leschyshyn, Ben Hutton, Laurent Brossoit

Projected Sharks Line Combinations

Timo Meier- Tomas Hertl- Alexander Barabanov

Noah Gregor- Logan Couture- Luke Kunin

Evgeny Svechnikov- Nico Sturm- Kevin Labanc

Oskar Lindblom- Steven Lorentz- Matt Nieto

Jaycob Megna- Erik Karlsson

Marc-Edouard Vlasic- Matt Benning

Mario Ferraro- Radim Simek

James Reimer/Kaapo Kahkonen

Sharks Special Teams

PP1- Labanc, Couture, Hertl, Karlsson, Meier

PP2- Kunin, Sturm, Lindblom, Ferraro, Barabanov

PK1- Couture, Kunin, Ferraro, Vlasic

PK2- Hertl, Nieto, Simek, Benning

IR/Scratches

Nikolai Knyzhov, Markus Nutivaara, Nick Bonino, Jonah Gadjovich, Scott Harrington

How to Watch/Listen

7:30 pm on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN, and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.