Golden Knights Gameday 72: Thompson Time: Lines and Notes vs Canucks

The Vegas Golden Knights (44-21-6, 94 points) will continue their current Western Canada road trip, playing the Calgary Flames (32-25-15, 79 points) at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Logan Thompson will return to the net after missing the last 18 games with a lower-body injury. Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar, who are both traveling with the team and participating in practices, could also return.

This is the fourth and final matchup of the season series between these two teams. The Golden Knights are 1-2, most recently coming off a 7-2 loss to the Flames just one week ago. 

The Flames are currently in the hunt for the last Wild Card position in the West, chasing the Winnipeg Jets, who they are four points behind currently.

What to Watch For

LT

All eyes will be on Logan Thompson tonight, as he becomes the first goaltender back from injury. The Golden Knight's current goaltending situation is a complex and messy one, but the consensus 'starter' for most of the season has been LT. We'll see tonight if he can play up to this status.

Playing Firefighter

It goes without saying that the Golden Knights can greatly damage the Flames' chances of making it into the Stanley Cup playoffs with a win tonight. Every point is important for both teams, but arguably more so for the Flames who are clawing for a Wild Card spot.

It's Been One Week

The Golden Knights play the Calgary Flames tonight just one week after losing to them 7-2 at home. In that game, Zach Whitecloud and Reilly Smith scored goals for the VGK and Paul Cotter got into his first career NHL fight against Troy Stecher. But the Flames scored four goals in the third period to win the game.

Pavel Scorofeyev

Pavel Dorofeyev just can't stop scoring. The rookie has four goals and two assists for six points with three of his goals being game-winners.

Reilly's Rolling

Reilly Smith also can't stop scoring as his point streak has hit nine games. He has four goals and seven assists for eleven points in the stretch, and with a point tonight, can set a Golden Knights record for the longest point streak in franchise history.

Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations

Ivan Barbashev- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Pavel Dorofeyev

Chandler Stephenson- Nicolas Roy- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden- Teddy Blueger- Michael Amadio

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Alec Martinez- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson/Jonathan Quick

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

Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Laurent Brossoit, Will Carrier, Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar, Adin Hill/Ben Hutton, Paul Cotter

Projected Flames Line Combinations

Andrew Mangiapane- Elias Lindholm- Tyler Toffoli

Jonathan Huberdeau- Mikael Backlund- Blake Coleman 

Nick Ritchie- Nazem Kadri- Dillon Dube

Milan Lucic- Trevor Lewis- Walker Duehr

Noah Hanifin- Rasmus Andersson 

Nikita Zadorov- Mackenzie Weegar

Dennis Gilbert- Troy Stetcher

Jacob Markstrom/Dan Vladar

Flames Special Teams

PP1- Backlund, Lindholm, Pelletier, Toffoli, Andersson

PP2- Dube, Kadri, Mangiapane, Weegar, Huberdeau

PK1- Backlund, Coleman, Hanifin, Tanev

PK2- Lindholm, Dube, Weegar, Andersson

IR/Scratches

Olivier Kylington, Michael Stone Chris Tanev/Adam Ruzicka, Walker Duehr, Jakob Pelletier, Kevin Rooney

How to Watch/Listen

6:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.