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 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.

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.