Hannah Kirkell
The Vegas Golden Knights (38-19-6) kick off a four-game Eastern Conference road trip on Tuesday. They’ll look to get back to their winning ways after a disastrous defensive game on Sunday against The Los Angeles Kings. They’ll face off against the Pittsburgh Penguins (25-31-10) at PPG Paints Arena.
The puck drops just after 4 p.m.
The Golden Knights’ four-game win streak was snapped in their last outing against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. They saw the Penguins last Friday— was that only five days ago? Time moves strangely at this point in the season. The Golden Knights will try to channel their defensive magic from their first meeting, which was a 4-0 shutout.
The Penguins last played on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild. They won 3-1, and Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin scored against their old friend Marc-André Fleury.
The Golden Knights have been alternating goaltenders; Adin Hill started on Sunday against the Kings, so I imagine it’ll be Ilya Samsonov on the mound tonight. Samsonov has a record of 4-3-1 and an average save percentage of .920 in eight career games against the Penguins.
Tristan Jarry will start tonight for the Penguins. Jarry has a record of 4-2-0 and an average save percentage of .921 in six career games against the Golden Knights.
Projected Golden Knights Lines
Tanner Pearson-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone
Brandon Saad-Tomáš Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Ivan Barbashev-Brett Howden-Keegan Kolesar
Reilly Smith-Nicolas Roy-Victor Olofsson
Defense
Nicolas Hague-Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin-Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb-Kaedan Korczak
Goaltenders: Adin Hill/Ilya Samsonov
Penguins Lines
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Bryan Rust
Connor Dewar-Evgeni Malkin-Philip Tomasino
Danton Heinen-Kevin Hayes-Emil Bemstrom
Boko Imama-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
Defense
Ilya Kolyachonok-Kris Letang
Matt Grzelcyk-Erik Karlsson
Ryan Graves-Conor Timmins
Goaltenders: Tristan Jarry/Alex Nedeljkovic
Special Teams
Golden Knights power play: 28.5%, 2nd. Golden Knights penalty kill: 76.2%, 23rd.
Penguins power play: 24.2%, 9th. Penguins penalty kill: 78.9%, 17th.
Golden Knights Game Notes
Tonight, the Golden Knights will play the Penguins for the second and final time this season. They took the first meeting 4-0 with goals from Tanner Pearson, Ivan Barbashev, Brandon Saad, and Mark Stone. They have won two in a row against the Penguins and are 6-7 all-time.
Tonight will be Reilly Smith’s sixth game against the Penguins this season. He has a goal and three assists through five games.
It’s a homecoming for Brandon Saad, who was born in Pittsburgh. He has nine goals and 20 points in 23 career games against the Penguins.
After his three-point night when the teams met last week, Mark Stone has 12 goals and 26 points in 20 career games against the Penguins.
We’re on Milestone Watch! Jack Eichel is one point shy of tying the franchise record for points in a single season, set by William Karlsson (78 points) in 2017-18.
The Golden Knights are 14-12-3 on the road this season; the Penguins are 14-13-5 at home.
How to Watch
TV: Vegas 34
Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340
