Golden Knights Gameday
Golden Knights Gameday 76: Fleury Is Coming Back! Lines and Starting Goalies vs Wild
Marc-Andre Fleury is coming back to Las Vegas. (April Fools).
Although technically speaking, we're not lying as the Vegas Golden Kn…

Marc-Andre Fleury is coming back to Las Vegas. (April Fools).
Although technically speaking, we're not lying as the Vegas Golden Knights (46-22-7, 99 points) play Fleury and the Minnesota Wild (44-22-9, 97 points) tonight at 7:00 p.m. from T-Mobile Arena. The Wild can clinch a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win in any fashion over the VGK.
A couple of lineup changes are expected as Nicolas Roy moved up to the second line, putting Teddy Blueger back at center and scratching Pavel Dorofeyev. Birthday boy Reilly Smith was on the ice Saturday morning in a blue no-contact jersey but is not expected to play. Laurent Brossoit will start.
On the other end of the ice, Marc-Andre Fleury will start in his second return to Las Vegas, but Ryan Reaves is currently listed as injured for the Wild.
What to Watch For
Friendly Flower
The most obvious storyline entering this game will be the second return of Marc-Andre Fleury to Las Vegas. In the only other matchup Fleury has had against his former team, he allowed just one goal in a 2-1 win. This season the veteran goaltender is 24-13-4 with a .909 sv% and a 2.81 GAA.
Playoff Matchup
Tonight's game begins a mini two-game home-and-home series against another playoff team. The VGK most recently completed one of these against the Edmonton Oilers and also have one more approaching against the Seattle Kraken this season. With the Wild being the second-best team in the West, winning eight of their last eleven without Kirill Kaprizov, this will be a huge test for the VGK.
Anabelle Motivation
Make a Wish eight-year-old Anabelle Hanson took to social media to congratulate the Golden Knights on making the Stanley Cup Playoffs yesterday. Just some more added motivation for the VGK in this stretch run.
@GoldenKnights @MakeAWishSNV @SinBinVegas A message from Annabelle!! Go Knights! pic.twitter.com/21lU9scqGh
— Taylor ๐ค๐ณ (@Tay121421) April 1, 2023
Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations
Ivan Barbashev- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter- William Karlsson- Nicolas Roy
Michael Amadio- Chandler Stephenson- Phil Kessel
Brett Howden- Teddy Blueger- Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb- Nicolas Hague
Ben Hutton- Zach Whitecloud
Laurent Brossoit/Jonathan Quick
Golden Knights Special Teams
PP1: Eichel, Roy, Stephenson, Barbashev, Pietrangelo
PP2: Marchessault, Karlsson, Amadio, Kessel, Hutton
PK1: Karlsson, Roy, McNabb, Pietrangelo
PK2: Stephenson, Howden, Whitecloud, Martinez
IR/Scratches
Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Will Carrier, Adin Hill, Reilly Smith, Logan Thompson, Shea Theodore/Pavel Dorofeyev, Brayden Pachal
Projected Wild Line Combinations
Marcus Foligno- Ryan Hartman- Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Johansson- Joel Eriksson Ek- Matthew Boldy
Sam Steel- Frederick Gaudreau- Oskar Sundqvist
Mason Shaw- Connor Dewar- Alex Goligoski
Jacob Middleton- Jared Spurgeon (c)
Jonas Brodin- Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill- John Klingberg
Marc-Andre Fleury/Filip Gustavsson
Wild Special Teams
PP1- Zuccarello, Eriksson Ek, Johansson, Boldy, Klingberg
PP2- Sundqvist, Gaudreau, Foligno, Gaudreau, Spurgeon
PK1- Dewar, Shaw, Middleton, Spurgeon
PK2- Eriksson Ek, Gaudreau, Brodin, Dumba
IR/Scratches
Pavel Novak, Kirill Kaprizov, Ryan Reaves, Brandon Duhaime, Gustav Nyquist/Calen Addison
How to Watch/Listen
7:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.