The Vegas Golden Knights’ final road preseason game will take place in the Honda Center tonight against the Anaheim Ducks.
But enough about all of that.
MARC-ANDRE FLEURY IS MAKING HIS DEBUT TONIGHT AND THAT IS CAUSE FOR US TO GET HYPED.
Here’s what we need to know for tonight’s game.
Refer to the aforementioned Fleury
The three-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the most exciting expansion draft pick out of everyone, is making his debut for the Golden Knights tonight.
It’s been a strong exhibition campaign for Vegas’ goaltending, with the exception of Calvin Pickard’s struggles against the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 21. Keeping an eye to how the other goalies have done up to this point has been pertinent to the Golden Knights’ preseason. It’s time for them to take a step back and watch Flower get his chance to shake the rust off.
This will be Fleury’s first start since May 17, which was Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Ottawa Senators. He gave up four goals in a 5-1 loss, and that was the last time he’d play for Pittsburgh in his career. It’s a fresh start for the two-time All-Star goaltender.
His new journey begins tonight.
Time to figure out who’s making this roster
Vegas’ roster, with the exception of three or four roster spots, is beginning to take shape. Cody Glass nor Nick Suzuki will be on the opening night roster after being released from training camp Friday to re-join their junior teams, so it’s time for some prospects still on the preseason roster to finish strong.
Some of those notable guys are Keegan Kolesar, Tomas Hyka, Erik Haula and Tyler Wong. Even defensemen Brad Hunt and Griffin Reinhart are fighting for an opening night roster spot, with those two having greatly different trajectories.
A strong performance in Vegas’ final road exhibition contest will go a long way to who solidifies a spot on this roster. There’s not a lot of time left to make a good impression on Gerard Gallant and George McPhee. The roster is going to be solidified soon. When the team gets back to Vegas for its final three preseason games, there’s a strong chance Gallant will know who is making the roster before Tuesday.
How will the Golden Knights respond?
Albeit preseason, Vegas dropping its first game the way it did in San Jose didn’t go overlooked (even though we couldn’t see the game on TV). Goaltending was bad, defense was bad, you name it, it probably happened.
The Golden Knights surely want to finish the campaign strong, and the first step to doing that is responding after tough losses. That’s also going to determine which players have the mental toughness to put that loss in the rear-view. When there’s so much excitement surrounding the team after two dominant preseason wins, a loss like that can be deflating.
Let’s see how Vegas responds against a division rival.
How to watch
TV: TBD. AT&T SportsNet is not listed, but the Ducks’ broadcast on Fox Sports West might carry it. We’ll let you know. Even if you have Cox, you’ll get that channel.
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM/1340 AM
Puck drop: 5 p.m. PT