The Vegas Golden Knights will look to end a four-game losing streak tonight against the Ottawa Senators.
There are a few major storylines to follow in this one.
For one thing, Vegas will play the first game in franchise history without Gerard Gallant behind the bench. The Knights announced yesterday the dismissals of Gallant and assistant coach Mike Kelly. Peter DeBoer, former coach of the San Jose Sharks, was named as Gallant’s replacement. He will make his Vegas coaching debut tonight in Ottawa.
For another thing, Mark Stone will make his long-awaited return to Ottawa. Stone faced his former team earlier this season, but tonight marks the first time he’ll be back in Canadian Tire Centre since getting dealt to the Knights at last year’s trade deadline.
The Knights are in desperate need of two points, though the Senators enter tonight’s game with losses in eight straight, so it should be a hard-fought battle.
Vegas is currently outside of playoff positioning but sits just three points out of first place in the Pacific Division. Arizona, Calgary and Vancouver are also on the schedule tonight.
The Knights will have to get it done tonight without William Karlsson, who is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
ICYMI, check out the preview for tonight’s game.
Here are the projected lineups for both clubs (subject to change):
Golden Knights
Jonathan Marchessault — Chandler Stephenson — Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty — Paul Stastny — Mark Stone
Tomas Nosek — Cody Eakin — Alex Tuch
William Carrier — Nicolas Roy — Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb — Nate Schmidt
Nick Holden — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Deryk Engelland
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Senators
Brady Tkachuk — Jean-Gabriel Pageau — Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis — Colin White — Drake Batherson
Vladislav Namestnikov — Chris Tierney — Anthony Duclair
Filip Chlapik — Artem Anisimov — Scott Sabourin
Thomas Chabot — Ron Hainsey
Mark Borowiecki — Nikita Zaitsev
Mike Reilly — Dylan DeMelo
Craig Anderson
Marcus Hogberg
Join us in the comments section during tonight’s historic game.
How do you feel about the coaching change?
| Love it | 0 |
| Gallant was great, but it was time for a change | 5 |
| Peter DeBoer? Really?!? | 4 |
| Hate everything about it | 5 |
| I’m not crying, you’re crying! | 1 |
| Other (explain in comments) | 0 |