Golden Knights Gameday
Golden Knights Gameday 10: Hallows Eve: Lines and Notes vs Jets
It’s Halloween eve, and the Vegas Golden Knights (7-2-0, fourteen points) play the Winnipeg Jets (5-3-0, ten points) Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. The Golden Knights haven’t officially announced any festivities for Halloween, but if you are in the festive spirit, wear your appropriate Halloween costume to the game!
This is the last Golden Knight’s home game until Nov. 12, as they will be on a five-game road trip starting Tuesday against the Washington Capitals.
After missing Friday’s game due to illness, Keegan Kolesar, who practiced Saturday, will likely return. The Golden Knights did not hold practice today, with today’s game being at 5:00 p.m. As a result, we will have to wait until warmups to find out who the team’s starting goaltender will be against the Jets.
What to Watch For
Start Time: The Golden Knights play their second straight game at a unique time Sunday. For Friday’s Nevada Day game, they played at 3:00 p.m. Today they play at 5:00 p.m. Head coach Bruce Cassidy spoke Saturday on how this could have an effect on players’ preparation for the games.
“I think 5:00 is an odd time. Guys typically prepare meetings in the morning, skate, and have a little nap, and then it’s 7:00. So 5:00 can screw up your day, huh? So it’s the same for both teams, so we’ll see how it plays out,” said Cassidy.
Goalie Duel: The health of Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson’s 29-save shutout Friday has moved the Golden Knight’s goaltending story along in an interesting way. There is a chance Adin Hill could play Sunday and get a start.
Despite the injury news regarding Robin Lehner, the Golden Knight’s inexperienced goaltending duo has been just fine. They lead the league in save percentage currently with a .940 sv%.
Blocking Shots: A thing that is flying under the radar is the Golden Knight’s ability to block shots early on this season. Under Cassidy’s systems, they are forcing players to the outside and making life easier on both Hill and Thompson.
Alec Martinez (39) is currently second in the league in blocked shots, behind only David Savard (40). Brayden McNabb is seventh with 24 in nine games.
“We’ve grasped the systems pretty good early. Defensively we’ve been pretty good,” said Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb.
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
Laurent Brossoit/Jake Leschyshyn, Paul Cotter, Ben Hutton
Projected Jets Line Combinations
Kyle Connor- Pierre-Luc Dubois- Mason Appleton
Cole Perfetti- Mark Scheifele- Blake Wheeler
Morgan Barron- Adam Lowry- Sam Gagner
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby- David Gustafsson- Saku Maenalanen
Josh Morrissey- Neal Pionk
Brenden Dillon- Nate Schmidt
Dylan Samberg- Dylan DeMelo
Connor Hellebuyck/David Rittich
Jets Special Teams
PP1- Wheeler, Dubois, Connor, Scheifele, Morrissey
PP2- Gagner, Lowry, Perfetti, Pionk, Schmidt
PK1- Lowry, Appleton, Dillon, DeMelo
PK2- Gustafsson, Barron, Pionk, Schmidt
IR/Scratches
Nikolaj Ehlers/Dominic Toninato, Logan Stanley, Kyle Capobianco
How to Watch/Listen
5:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN, and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.