Golden Knights Gameday

Golden Knights Game 81, Ring of Fire; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs Flames

Published

6 days ago

April 15, 2025

Vegas Golden Knights vs Calgary Flames AWAY Gameday Graphic

The Vegas Golden Knights (49-22-9) play the first of a two-game road trip to close out the regular season. They’ll ice a light lineup to rest key players with the playoffs just around the corner. They’ll face a desperate Calgary Flames (39-27-14) team at Scotiabank Saddledome.

The puck drops just after 6:30 p.m.

The Golden Knights were last in action on Saturday against the Nashville Predators. It was the final home game of the regular season, and they won 5-3 in dramatic fashion. Their regulation win secured the Pacific Division title, their fourth in eight years.

The Flames have won two straight and are desperately fighting to keep their postseason hopes alive. However, if they fail to record at least one point tonight, they will be eliminated from playoff contention.

Ilya Samsonov gets the starting nod, and Akira Schmid will be the backup; Adin Hill won’t dress tonight. Samsonov has a record of 2-0-1 and an average save percentage of .958 in three career games against the Flames.

Dustin Wolf will start his eighth consecutive game for the Flames. He has a record of 1-0-2 and an average save percentage of .912 in three career games against the Golden Knights.

No Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, or Noah Hanifin for the Golden Knights. Eichel is still classified as day-to-day, but Bruce Cassidy provided a positive update on Monday.

Projected Golden Knights Lines

Brandon Saad-Tomáš Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith
Ivan Barbashev-Nic Roy-Keegan Kolesar
Tanner Pearson-Brett Howden-Alexander Holtz

Defense

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore
Nic Hague-Zach Whitecloud
Ben Hutton-Kaedan Korczak

Goaltenders: Ilya Samsonov/Akira Schmid

Flames Lines

Jonathan Huberdeau-Nazem Kadri-Adam Klapka
Blake Coleman-Mikael Backlund-Matt Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich-Morgan Frost-Martin Pospisil
Ryan Lomberg-Kevin Rooney-Joel Farabee

Defense

Joel Hanley-MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl-Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean-Braydan Pachal

Goaltenders: Dustin Wolf/Dan Vladar

Special Teams

Golden Knights power play: 29.1%, 2nd. Golden Knights penalty kill: 76.5%, tied for 23rd.
Flames power play: 20.5%, 20th. Flames penalty kill: 76.0%, 26th.

Golden Knights Game Notes

The Golden Knights have won the first three matchups against the Flames this year and are looking to sweep the season series for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They are 16-8-1 against the Flames all-time.

The Flames are fighting to save their season and need at least a point tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive. On the other hand, the Golden Knights will likely be fairly unmotivated as they have little to play for.

William Karlsson has an active four-game point streak.

If he records a point against the Flames, Brayden McNabb will have the first four-game point streak of his 13-year career.

Unless he plays Wednesday and has a seven-point game– let’s not rule anything out– Jack Eichel will fall short of recording his first 100-point season.

The Golden Knights could know their matchup for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the end of the night. If the Minnesota Wild record one point against the Anaheim Ducks, they’ll face Vegas in the first round.