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 …
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.