The Vegas Golden Knights (16-6-1, 33 points) are back on the road, where they’ve enjoyed quite a bit of success this season, looking to snap a two-game losing streak. The Columbus Blue Jackets (7-12-1, 15 points) will attempt to stop them and also snap a two-game skid of their own.
This is the first of two meetings between both squads, and the final contest will take place months from now on March 19th at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights are led up front by Jack Eichel (26 points in 23 games), but have a very solid supporting cast which has them scoring 3.57 goals per game (7th-best in NHL), and only surrendering 2.65 goals against per game (7th-best in NHL).
The Blue Jackets sit 24th in the league with a 2.90 goals per game average, and 31st with a 4.20 goals against average. In terms of special teams, their power play is clicking at 16% which is 3rd-worst in the league. They also have a middling PK unit, and it ranks 20th coming in with an efficiency of 77.6%. Vegas respectively has the 20th-ranked PP unit at 21.2%, and 24th ranked PK unit at 73.7%.
Players of Note
Columbus Blue Jackets
Leading Scorer: Johnny Gaudreau — 7-13-20 in 20 GP
Top Goal Scorer: Booner Jenner — 8 goals
Best Goalie: Daniil Tarasov — 2-3-0, .906 SV%, 3.46 GAA
Vegas Golden Knights
Leading Scorer: Jack Eichel — 11-15-26 in 21GP
Top Goal Scorer: Jack Eichel — 11 goals
Best Goalie: Logan Thompson —11-4-0, .920 SV%, 2.48 GAA
With those out of the way, here is a projected lineup for both sides.
Vegas Golden Knights
Chandler Stephenson — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Paul Cotter — Nicolas Roy— Phil Kessel
Will Carrier — Jake Leschyshyn — Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Logan Thompson
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau — Booner Jenner — Gustav Nyquist
Yegor Chinakhov — Cole Sillinger — Carson Meyer
Kent Johnson — Jack Roslovic — Trey Fix-Wolansky
Eric Robinson — Sean Kuraly — Mathieu Olivier
Vladislav Gavrikov — Marcus Bjork
Jake Christiansen — Erik Gudbranson
Gavin Bayreuther — Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Feel free to use this as an open thread to discuss the game.