Golden Knights Gameday 14: Eight Str8? : Lines and Notes vs Maple Leafs

Looking for eight straight wins, the Vegas Golden Knights (11-2-0, 22 points) will play game four of their five-game road trip against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7-4-2, 16 points) Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.

This is the final regular season matchup between these two teams. The Golden Knights lead the season series 1-0 as they beat the Maple Leafs 3-1 on Oct. 24 in Las Vegas.

After two days of rest and Adin Hill getting the start against the Montreal Canadiens, Logan Thompson will likely be the Golden Knight’s starter. Down their top two goaltenders, the Maple Leafs will start Erik Kallgren. Both Reilly Smith and Alec Martinez will be playing in career game no. 700.

What to Watch For

Toronto’s Goaltending

Both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov are injured for the Maple Leafs, which leaves them with a no. 3 and no. 4 goalie tandem of Erik Kallgren and Keith Petruzzelli.

The Maple Leafs already took a risk with their goaltending by letting Jack Campbell walk in free agency. Now they rely on 26-year-old Kallgren, who will be playing in just his 20th NHL game Tuesday, to get them through the next couple of weeks while their goalies get healthy or they made a trade.

Look for the Maple Leafs to play a more structured team defense with a more inexperienced netminder in for them.

The 700 Twins

Miami Ohio Alumni Reilly Smith and Alec Martinez will both be playing in career game no. 700 of their NHL careers Tuesday evening. Smith has played 334 games so far with the Golden Knights and Martinez 102.

Congrats to both of them on this milestone, and with this game having special importance to them, look for them to be active in the game. Martinez continues to lead the league in shot blocking, and Smith is coming off a two-goal game.

Pietrangelo/Tavares Connection

Another connection through non-NHL hockey is with John Tavares and Alex Pietrangelo, who both played for the Toronto Blues, a summer league team in the hockey capital of the world. They were on a stacked youth hockey team with Steven Stamkos and Michael Del Zotto also playing on the team.

A trip to Toronto means a homecoming for a lot of players such as Pietrangelo, so look for the Ontario natives (Pietrangelo, Smith, Nic Hague, Michael Amadio) to step up their game with family likely in the stands.

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 Maple Leafs Line Combinations

Alex Kerfoot- Auston Matthews- Mitch Marner

Nick Robertson- John Tavares (c)- William Nylander

Michael Bunting- Pierre Engvall- Calle Jarnkrok

Zach Aston-Reese- David Kampf- Denis Malgin

TJ Brodie- Justin Holl

Morgan Rielly- Timothy Liljegren

Mark Giordano- Rasmus Sandin

Erik Kallgren/Keith Petruzzelli

Maple Leafs Special Teams

PP1- Tavares, Nylander, Matthews, Marner, Rielly

PP2- Bunting, Kerfoot, Malgin, Sandin, Robertson

PK1- Kampf, Marner, Brodie, Holl

PK2- Kerfoot, Jarnkrok, Rielly, Giordano

IR/Scratches

Carl Dahlstrom, Matt Murray, Jordie Benn, Jake Muzzin, Ilya Samsonov, Kyle Clifford/Wayne Simmonds, Pontus Holmberg, Victor Mete

How to Watch/Listen

4:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+, and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.