The Olympic break is officially over.
The 2025-26 NHL regular season will resume tonight, and the Vegas Golden Knights (27-16-14) will be on national television when they take on the Los Angeles Kings (23-19-14) at Crypto.com Arena.
However, the Golden Knights’ roster will be short five notable names.
Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin returned home from Milan with some significant hardware after the United States defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal. It was the first time Team USA won the gold medal at the Olympics since the 1980 “Miracle On Ice” team.
Both American-born players remain in Washington, D.C. after visiting the White House Tuesday; they are expected to join the team ahead of Friday’s game against the Capitals.
The three members of Team Canada also will not be in the lineup against the Kings. Though disappointed with the result, Mark Stone, Mitch Marner and Shea Theodore did not come home empty-handed after earning silver medals for their efforts in the international tournament.
The Canadian players are in Las Vegas for now but are expected to join the team in Washington ahead of Friday’s tilt.
“We left them behind to give them a break, and we’re hoping they’ll be ready to join us [in Washington],” Bruce Cassidy said.
Olympic roundup
Team USA
Jack Eichel: 6GP (2-4—6) 25 SOG, +5 (goal)
Noah Hanifin: 6GP (1-2—3) 4 SOG, +3, 1 GWG (goal)
Team Canada
Mitch Marner: 6GP (1-4—5) 10 SOG, +5, 1 GWG (OT)
Mark Stone: 6GP (2-2—4) 11 SOG, +3, 1 SHG
Shea Theodore: 6GP (1-1—2) 6 SOG, +3 (goal)
Team Czechia
Tomas Hertl: 5GP (0-1—1) 12 SOG, +1Team Sweden
Rasmus Andersson: 2GP (0-0—0) 2 SOG, +2Team Switzerland
Akira Schmid: 1GP (vs. CAN): 5.00 GAA, .872 SV%, 39 saves
This presents the Golden Knights with some challenges, and it means the lineup will be particularly thin in Los Angeles.
As always, the Golden Knights will follow the “next guy up” motto.
“It’s a challenge to the group, and it’s an opportunity for others,” Cassidy said. “We’ve still got 20 NHL players in our lineup, so go help the team win. Do what you do best. Obviously, there’s less room for error when you’re missing some guys that are real difference-makers, that can make something out of nothing. So just play well enough as a team.”
The Golden Knights have made a handful of roster transactions in the last few days that will help fill out the lineup, even if it doesn’t fill the holes left in the absence of five key players.
The most notable transaction was the activation of defenseman Brayden McNabb, who will return to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 31. His presence has been sorely missed.
Also returning from injury are forwards Brandon Saad, who was injured Jan. 8, as well as Colton Sissons, who suffered an upper-body injury on Jan. 14.
However, both Brett Howden and Carter Hart have been transferred to long-term injured reserve.
The Golden Knights also recalled forwards Tanner Laczynski and Kai Uchacz as well as defenseman Dylan Coghlan from the Henderson Silver Knights. All three will be in the lineup tonight, with Laczynski expected to center the second line between Reilly Smith and Pavel Dorofeyev.
Coghlan is expected to see time on the second power-play unit.
“It’s gonna be fun,” Coghlan said. “I think the last time I played on the power play here was four years ago, so that’ll be nice to make a difference in that area.”
Another player who will see a more prominent role is Keegan Kolesar, who skated on the first line with Tomas Hertl and Ivan Barbashev during morning skate.
“Got 25 games here, coming down to the final push,” Kolesar said. “It’s exciting. Lots of exciting games coming up in our division. Good way to start here in L.A.”
The Golden Knights’ season has been consistently streaky. Vegas won back-to-back games before the break but had lost seven of the previous eight, including five in a row.
Vegas is 2-0-1 in the season series against the Kings and 20-15-4 all-time, including 10-8-1 in Los Angeles. Los Angeles trails Vegas by eight points in the standings with a game in hand.
The Golden Knights topped the Kings 4-1 in the final game before the Olympic break after defeating the Kings 3-2 in overtime in mid-January. The two clubs went to a shootout in the season opener, but the Kings prevailed in a 6-5 decision.
Notably, there should be plenty of buzz in the building tonight with Artemi Panarin set to make his Kings debut. It will be important for the Golden Knights to try to take the crowd out of it early.
Panarin was acquired from the New York Rangers prior to the Olympic break in exchange for prospect Liam Greentree and several conditional draft picks. Panarin later signed a two-year, $22 million extension with the club. He is projected to skate on the second line with Alex Laferriere and Adrian Kempe.
The Kings are rumored to be in the market for another top-six forward, particularly considering the Rangers retained 50 percent of Panarin’s contract for the duration of this season.
But for all teams, the next few games will be pivotal. The standings are tight, and clubs are still determining whether they’re going to be buyers or sellers and how aggressive they’ll be ahead of the March 6 trade deadline. With the deadline approaching and a condensed schedule the rest of the way, every game matters, and every point is critical.
With Eichel, Marner, Stone, Theodore and Hanifin out of the lineup, the Golden Knights will have their hands full against the Kings.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Tomas Hertl — Keegan Kolesar
Reilly Smith — Tanner Laczynski — Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad — Colton Sissons — Alexander Holtz
Cole Reinhardt — Kai Uchacz — Braeden Bowman
Jeremy Lauzon — Rasmus Andersson
Brayden McNabb — Dylan Coghlan
Ben Hutton — Kaedan Korczak
Adin Hill
PP1: Bowman — Holtz — Hertl — Dorofeyev — Andersson
PP2: Barbashev — Laczynski — Smith — Hutton — Coghlan
Kings
Quinton Byfield — Anze Kopitar — Trevor Moore
Artemi Panarin — Alex Laferriere — Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele — Alex Turcotte — Andrei Kuzmenko
Joel Armia — Samuel Helenius — Corey Perry
Brian Dumoulin — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Mikey Anderson — Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg
How to watch
Game 58 of 82: Golden Knights at Kings
When: 7 p.m. PT
Where: Crypto.com Arena — Los Angeles, CA
TV: TNT, truTV, HBO Max
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM
Photo courtesy of Golden Knights