Golden Knights Gameday 71: BC Bound: Lines and Notes vs Canucks

The Vegas Golden Knights (43-21-6, 93 points) will wrap up their season series against the Vancouver Canucks (31-33-5, 67 points) tonight on the road at 7:00 p.m. This is the third and final meeting of the season series with both teams being 1-1 against one another.

The VGK are coming off a 7-2 loss to the Calgary Flames which then followed up with a 7-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Injured players Logan Thompson, Laurent Brossoit, Nicolas Roy, and Keegan Kolesar are all traveling with the team. Kolesar and Roy skated this morning with only Kolesar being in a red no-contact jersey. 

We will have to wait and see who will back up Jonathan Quick in goal, which could hint at which goaltender is the healthiest for the team moving forward.

What to Watch For

Goalie Carousel

The Golden Knight's current goaltending situation is extraordinarily complex, and with Jiri Patera now being sent back down to the AHL, another goalie chapter has begun in Vegas leading up to the playoffs.

In short, the Golden Knights have four NHL-caliber goaltenders but no true starter. They will have to narrow down their list on not only which goaltender is healthy but ready to be the starter for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Surprisingly Hot

The Canucks, who can be eliminated from playoff contention tonight are not letting that stop them from playing well. They are 8-2-0 in their last ten games with Elias Pettersson and JT Miller scoring 12 points in their last 8games. Quinn Hughes also has 11 points in his last 10 and Andrei Kuzmenko 10 in his last 10.

Smith's Streak

Reilly Smith enters tonight's game on a career-high eight-game point streak. He has scored three goals and seven assists in this stretch, reaching ten points. 

Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations

Ivan Barbashev- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Pavel Dorofeyev

Paul Cotter- Chandler Stephenson- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden- Teddy Blueger- Michael Amadio

Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Zach Whitecloud

Jonathan Quick/Logan Thompson

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Amadio, Smith, Stephenson, Eichel, Theodore

PP2: Marchessault, Barbashev, Karlsson, Kessel, Pietrangelo

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Blueger, Whitecloud, Martinez

IR/Scratches

Traveling: Logan Thompson, Laurent Brossoit, Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Roy

Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Will Carrier, Adin Hill/Ben Hutton

Projected Canucks Line Combinations

Andrei Kuzmenko- Elias Pettersson- Anthony Beauvillier

Phil Di Giuseppe- JT Miller- Brock Boeser

Dakota Joshua- Nils Aman- Conor Garland

Vitali Kravtsov- Sheldon Dries- Vasily Podkolzin

Quinn Hughes- Noah Juulsen

Ethan Bear- Tyler Myers

Christian Wolanin- Kyle Burroughs

Thatcher Demko/Collin Delia

Canucks Special Teams

PP1- Kuzmenko, Miller, Boeser, Hughes, Pettersson

PP2- Kravtsov, Dries, Garland, Wolanin, Beauviller

PK1- Miller, Di Giuseppe, Brisbois, Bear

PK2- Pettersson, Joshua, Juulsen, Burroughs

IR/Scratches

Tucker Poolman, Tanner Pearson, Filip Hronek, Ilya Mikheyev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Travis Dermott

How to Watch/Listen

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