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Golden Knights seek fifth straight home win in Nevada Day matchup against Senators

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Vegas Golden Knights (4-2-1) are back in action this afternoon (3 p.m. PT) as they take on the visiting Ottawa Senators (4-2-0) in the annual Nevada Day game.

The Golden Knights are coming off a commanding 6-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings, a much-needed bounceback effort following a three-game losing skid (0-2-1) on the road.

Special teams were perfect, with the power play cashing in twice in the first period and the penalty kill taking care of all four shorthanded situations, including an impressive stand late in the second period.

Tomas Hertl had four points, and the defense took significant strides in cleaning up some of the mistakes that prevented Vegas from closing out wins in Florida.

The Golden Knights are undefeated on home ice this season and will look to extend that home winning streak to five games in the first half of a back-to-back set.

The Senators enter today’s game as winners of two straight after alternating wins and losses through their first four games. They were involved in an 8-7 barnburner against Los Angeles and most recently defeated Tampa Bay and Utah.

Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stützle lead the Senators in scoring with identical stat lines of three goals, five assists and eight points, while Drake Batherson (4-3—7) and Jake Sanderson (1-6—7) each have seven and Josh Norris has six (3-3—6).

Former Golden Knights forward Michael Amadio will make his return to Vegas after leaving via free agency in the offseason. Amadio has zero points through six games with his new club after signing a three-year deal over the summer, though he has skated on the top line in each of the last two contests.

The two clubs have performed similarly on special teams so far this season.

The Senators have been lethal on the power play, which is clicking at 40.9 percent after going 9-for-22. That’s good for second overall in the NHL behind only the undefeated Winnipeg Jets.

That being said, the Golden Knights are right there with them, as Vegas’ man-advantage is 7-for-19 (36.8 percent). That number increases to 45.5 percent on home ice, as Vegas has notched five goals on 11 opportunities, good for second overall (behind, ironically, Ottawa at 47.1 percent).

However, the Senators have only netted one power-play goal in five chances on the road (20 percent), good for 21st overall.

The numbers are comparable on the penalty kill as well, with Ottawa coming in tied for 15th (77.7 percent) and Vegas ranked 21st (76.5 percent). The Golden Knights are 15th at home (80 percent), while Ottawa is 15th (83.3 percent) on the road.

The Golden Knights need to continue to play solid defensively not just on the back end but as an 18-man unit in front of either Adin Hill or Ilya Samsonov, who started each of the last two games. The newly-reunited pairs were extremely effective, and Shea Theodore is expected to be back in the lineup today after serving as a late scratch due to illness.

The Golden Knights signed Theodore to a seven-year extension on Thursday, thus solidifying one of the most formidable blue lines in the NHL, as Theoedore joins Alex Pietrangelo and Noah Hanifin on long-term deals through at least 2026-27.

William Karlsson is expected to make his season debut Saturday against San Jose after sustaining an injury early in training camp. Getting him back in the lineup will be a massive boost for Vegas, even if it takes him some time to get up to speed.

Until then, the Golden Knights likely will roll with the same lineup that was so effective earlier this week.

The Golden Knights need to carry over their aggressive play as they look to collect two more points. They cannot sit back or take their foot off the gas with a lead, and they need to continue to steer pucks away from the crease, block shots, manage the puck and execute well on exits.

“We came off the road, we weren’t happy with how we finished some games,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We had pockets where we certainly could have picked up points. Picked up one. Disappointed we didn’t finish games better in the third period. That was the point of emphasis after the second period during the intermission [against Los Angeles]. I thought we did a real good job starting and extending the lead. Didn’t finish the game as well as we’d like, but I think we can write that off to a bit of being ahead and, I think, feeling comfortable. You never want to be that way, but I think there was a bit of that.”

A concerted effort to limit and contain rush chances and make clean plays through the neutral zone will be imperative against a young and skilled Senators roster.

“Rushes hurt us the most of anything, so we’ve gotta clean that up,” Cassidy said. “Every day, we’re working on it, we’re showing video, we’re trying to build it in to practice. Some of it’s tough to replicate because teams will do different things off the rush, but at the end of the day, we gotta sort out quicker.”

One way to do that is to simplify one’s game, which has been part of the approach for Vegas’ third line with Alexander Holtz, Cole Schwindt and Brendan Brisson. Holtz finally got the monkey off his back with his first goal of the season against the Kings.

“Just trying to help the team out there every day, and it’s always nice to contribute with a goal,” he said. “I feel like that can build your own confidence a little bit, and you just keep going from there.”

Vegas is 3-2-1 all-time in Nevada Day matchups, including last year’s 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago.


Projected lineups

Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brett Howden — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Brendan Brisson — Cole Schwindt — Alexander Holtz
Tanner Pearson — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar

Noah Hanifin — Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore — Brayden McNabb
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud

Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov

Senators
Brady Tkachuk — Tim Stützle — Michael Amadio
Claude Giroux — Josh Norris — Drake Batherson
Noah Gregor — Shane Pinto — Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins — Adam Gaudette — Zack MacEwan

Jake Sanderson — Travis Hamonic
Thomas Chabot — Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven — Jacob Bernard-Docker

Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg


How to watch

Game 8: Golden Knights vs. Senators
When: 3 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: Scripps
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM