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Golden Knights Gameday

Golden Knights Gameday 73: McDavid Mania: Lines and Notes vs Oilers

The Vegas Golden Knights (45-21-6, 96 points) will wrap up their three-game Western Canada road trip …

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The Vegas Golden Knights (45-21-6, 96 points) will wrap up their three-game Western Canada road trip with a game against the Edmonton Oilers (41-23-8, 90 points) at 7:00 p.m., which starts a home-and-home against the two Pacific Division teams.

Logan Thompson, Alec Martinez, and Reilly Smith are all now unavailable for the VGK with Smith and Thompson leaving the last game against the Calgary Flames and Martinez also returning to Las Vegas for personal reasons.

Laurent Brossoit could make his first start since Feb. 25 as he returns from a lower-body injury. Keegan Kolesar, who has been practicing in a regular contact jersey, could also make his return to the Golden Knights lineup. 

What to Watch For

Juggling Lines

The Golden Knights will once again have to adjust to people coming in and out of their lineup on the fly. Brossoit and Kolesar as well as scratches Ben Hutton and Paul Cotter will have to band together to patch the VGK's lineup together. 

Stretch Run

Tonight presents a great test for the Golden Knights against another fellow playoff-bound opponent in the Oilers. The VGK will play five playoff teams in their remaining regular season schedule, with matchups against the Oilers, Wild, and Kraken all being home-and-home meetings, akin to the playoffs itself.

Those Guys

Your obligatory Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl warning. Both have 20 points all-time against the Golden Knights with Draisaitl playing in 17 career games against the VGK and McDavid 16. Combined, the two have 248 points and McDavid recently hit the 60-goal mark.

With these two leading the way, the Oilers have scored five or more goals 27 times this season and are 25-2-1 when doing so.

Preventing Powerplays

With the talent they have on their roster, the Oilers unsurprisingly have the best powerplay in the NHL, which currently operates at 31.45%. They also have the top-three powerplay point scorers in the league in McDavid, Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Staying out of the box will be key for the Golden Knights.

Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations

Ivan Barbashev- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Chandler Stephenson- William Karlsson- Pavel Dorofeyev

Paul Cotter- Nicolas Roy- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden- Teddy Blueger- Michael Amadio

Ben Hutton- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Zach Whitecloud

Jonathan Quick/Laurent Brossoit

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Barbashev, Marshessault, Stephenson, Eichel, Theodore

PP2: Dorofeyev, Amadio, Karlsson, Kessel, Pietrangelo

PK1: Karlsson, Blueger, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Howden, Whitecloud, Hutton

IR/Scratches

Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Will Carrier, Adin Hill, Reilly Smith, Logan Thompson, Keegan Kolesar

Projected Oilers Line Combinations

Evander Kane- Connor McDavid (c)- Kailer Yamamoto

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins- Leon Draiaitl- Zach Hyman

Warren Foegele- Nick Bjugstad- Derek Ryan

Klim Kostin- Devin Shore- Mattias Janmark

Darnell Nurse- Cody Ceci

Mattias Ekholm- Evan Bouchard

Brett Kulak- Vincent Desharnais

Stuart Skinner/Jack Campbell

Oilers Special Teams

PP1- Hyman, RNH, Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard

PP2- Kane, Bjugstad, Foegele, Nurse, Ekholm

PK1- Bjugstad, RNH, Nurse, Ceci

PK2- McDavid, Ryan, Ekholm, Broberg

IR/Scratches

Oscar Klefbom, Mike Smith, Ryan Murray, Ryan Mcleod/Phillip Broberg

How to Watch/Listen

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