Golden Knights Gameday 33: Pietrangelo Returns! Lines and Notes vs Islanders

The Vegas Golden Knights (21-9-1, 43 points) are home for the Holidays, starting a four-game homestand Saturday night against the New York Islanders (17-13-1, 35 points) at 7:00 p.m. With 12 of their next 15 games at home, the Golden Knights will be in search of a more consistent home ice record.

The VGK are 8-7-0 at T-Mobile Arena in comparison to their league-best 14-2-1 road record.

"There is no magic or button that we can push, or we would have pushed it already. We have got to focus up because we can do it on the road. Let's dial it in and finish at home before Christmas," said goaltender Logan Thompson regarding the home-ice record.

Jack Eichel, Brett Howden, Shea Theodore, and Alex Pietrangelo are all eligible to return for the Golden Knights tonight. Only Pietrangelo skated at practice. Additionally, the Golden Knights re-assigned both Brayden Pachal Kaedan Korczak to the Henderson Silver Knights Friday night.

Paul Cotter, who took a big hit from Blackhawk's defensemen Jared Tinordi was not at practice Saturday.

The Islanders, like many teams the Golden Knights play at home, are coming off a game against the Arizona Coyotes in which they lost 5-4.

What to Watch For

Schedule Grind

The motion of having a game, an off day, and then a game again with travel also in the mix can certainly be taxing to any sports team. The Golden Knights have been in this rotation since the start of the month. Now back home until after Santa comes, the Golden Knights will look to recuperate and put together some wins before the Holiday break.

The Islanders are also playing their second half of a back-to-back, given their game against the Coyotes last night. It will be a battle of the less-fatigued team, especially early

Special Teams

The Golden Knights knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks in their most recent contest by scoring four goals in four different ways. They scored on the powerplay, penalty kill, at five-on-five, and into the empty net. Surely the VGK will want to keep up this scoring diversity.

Goal Race

With Jack Eichel missing a handful of games this season, both Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault have passed him for the team lead in goals with 14. Eichel trails with 13, and Mark Stone is not far behind with 12. Injuries have inadvertently created a healthy competition for the team's lead in goals.

Projected Vegas Golden Knights Line Combinations

Phil Kessel- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone (c)

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Jonathan Marchessault

Jonas Rondbjerg- Jake Leschyshyn- Michael Amadio

William Carrier- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Ben Hutton- Alex Pietrangelo

Alec Martinez- Nicolas Hague

Brayden McNabb- Daniil Miromanov

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stephenson, Stone, Marchessault, Smith, Pietrangelo

PP2: Carrier, Karlsson, Kessel, Roy, Miromanov

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, Martinez, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Stone, McNabb, Hague

IR/Scratches

Zach Whitecloud, Paul Cotter, Brett Howden, Jack Eichel, Shea Theodore

Projected Islanders Line Combinations

Andres Lee (c)- Mat Barzal- Oliver Wahlstrom

Josh Bailey- Brock Nelson- Anthony Beauvillier

Zach Parise- JG Pageau- Kyle Palmieri

Matt Martin- Casey Cizikas- Cal Clutterbuck

Robin Salo- Ryan Pulock

Alexander Romanov- Scott Mayfield

Sebastian Aho- Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov/Ilya Sorokin 

Islanders Special Teams

PP1- Lee, Nelson, Pageau, Dobson, Barzal

PP2- Parise, Palmieri, Beauvillier, Pulock, Wahlstrom

PK1- Pageau, Parise, Romanov, Mayfield

PK2- Cizikas, Clutterbuck, Salo, Pulock

IR/Scratches

Adam Pelech/Ross Johnston, Simon Holmstrom, Hudson Fasching, Richard Panik

How to Watch/Listen

7:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.