Golden Knights Gameday #21: No More COVID, Lines, Notes vs Oilers

Get up and get ready for this one. The Vegas Golden Knights (12-8) are set to take on the Edmonton Oilers (14-5) in a big Pacific Division showdown Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena. The Golden Knights will be getting Jonathan Marchessault back from COVID-19 protocols. Robin Lehner is expected to start.

The team did not hold a morning skate Saturday with the game slated for 4:00 pm local time. However, they did re-assign Jake Leschyshyn to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL.

Saturday night’s matchup will be the second of four meetings between the Golden Knights and Oilers. The Oilers won 5-2 back on October 22nd. Currently, the Golden Knights are four points behind the Oilers in the Pacific Division standings. Leon Draisiatl and Connor McDavid lead the way for the Oilers with 40 and 36 points respectively but you already knew that.

The Golden Knights cannot afford to do what they did the other night against the Nashville Predators and take six penalties. The Oilers’ powerplay is operating at a staggering 39% with the big guns of McDavid and Draisiatl paving the way for this success. The Golden Knight’s powerplay has been weak all season and sits only ahead of the New York Islanders who right now are essentially an AHL team.

Don’t look now but the Golden Knights only have four players on injured reserve currently. They are Alec Martinez, Nolan Patrick, William Karlsson, and Jack Eichel. With the Golden Knights getting healthier, the framework of Peter DeBoer’s line combinations will be something to look out for.

Keep an eye on depth players like William Carrier and Mattias Janmark tonight. They will need to embrace their roles as bottom-six players for the Golden Knights. Also, Evgenii Dadonov is my player to watch as both Marchessault and Max Pacioretty returning kicks him out of a top-six spot. It will be interesting to see how well he adjusts with new linemates.

PROJECTED VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS LINES

Max Pacioretty- Chandler Stephenson- Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault- Nicolas Roy- Reilly Smith

William Carrier- Adam Brooks- Evgenii Dadonov

Mattias Janmark- Brett Howden- Keegan Kolesar

Defense:

Nicolas Hague- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton- Zach Whitecloud

Goalie:

Robin Lehner/Laurent Brossoit

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams:

Special Teams: 10.9% powerplay (31st) and 81.03% penalty kill (18th).

PP1: Stone, Stephenson, Dadonov, Theodore, Pacioretty

PP2: Roy, Brooks, Smith, Marchessault, Pietrangelo

PK1: Stephenson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Howden, Janmark, Hague, Hutton

IR: Jack Eichel, Nolan Patrick, William Karlsson, Alec Martinez.

PROJECTED EDMONTON OILERS LINES PER PUCKPEDIA

Leon Draisaitl- Connor McDavid- Zack Kassian

Zach Hyman- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins- Kailer Yamamoto

Warren Foegele- Ryan McLeod- Jesse Puljujarvi

Tyler Benson- Colton Sceviour- Kyle Turris

Defense:

Philip Broberg- Cody Ceci

Kris Russell- Tyson Barrie

William Lagesson- Evan Bouchard

Goalie:

Mikko Koskinen/Stuart Skinner

Edmonton Oilers Special Teams:

Special Teams: 39% powerplay (1st) and 86.89% penalty kill (5th).

PP1: Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl, McDavid, Barrie

PP2: Puljujarvi, Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl, McDavid, Bouchard

PK1: Sceviour, Yamamoto, Russell, Bouchard

PK2: Nugent-Hopkins, Hyman, Broberg, Ceci

IR: Oscar Klefbom, Josh Archibald, Alex Stalock, Mike Smith, Devin Shore, Darnell Nurse, Slater Koekkoek, Duncan Keith.

How to Watch/Listen: 4:00 pm on NHL Network and Fox Sports 98.9 FM