The Vegas Golden Knights are 2-0-0 against the San Jose Sharks this season and will look to remain perfect with a win tonight.
The Vegas Golden Knights are 2-0-0 against the San Jose Sharks this season and will look to remain perfect with a win tonight.
The Golden Knights enter tonight's contest in first place in the NHL, a point ahead of the Washington Capitals and carrying a six-point Pacific Division lead over the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers.
They also enter tonight's game as the hottest team in the league, winners of 12 of their last 14 games. They've found consistency on both ends of the ice and throughout their lineup.
They'll still be without Ivan Barbashev and Nicolas Roy but it shouldn't be too much of a factor against a young Sharks team which went through an inconsistent December.
Macklin Celebrini has been dynamite and has proven to be a consistent two-way forward through his first 30 NHL games but the Sharks roster is so young and has had occasions where they were decimated with injuries which has hampered their ability to show progression.
Nonetheless, they are one of the most exciting teams in the NHL because of their young core and are a threat to upset any team on any given night. The Golden Knights rarely take their opponents lightly but if they do, they'll find themselves in trouble early.
Ilya Samsonov will attempt to win his sixth start in a row as he looks like he is comfortable and thriving in Vegas. Alexandar Georgiev hasn't seen any positive change since his trade to the Sharks but he'll tend the goal once again for the Sharks.
Golden Knights projected lineup:
Pearson-Eichel-Stone
Hertl-Karlsson-Kolesar
Olofsson-Howden-Dorofeyev
Rondbjerg-Schwindt-Holtz
McNabb-Theodore
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
Hague-Whitecloud
Samsonov
Hill
Sharks projected lineup:
Eklund-Granlund-Zetterlund
Graf-Celebrini-Smith
Kostin-Wennberg-Toffoli
Goodrow-Kunin-Kovalenko
Thrun-Ceci
Ferraro-Liljegren
Mukhamadullin-Rutta
Georgiev
Askarov
Puck drop is at 7:00 P.M. PST at SAP Center.
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