Golden Knights Gameday 26: The Hero Miro: Lines and Notes vs Red Wings

The Vegas Golden Knights (17-7-1, 35 points) will play their third game of a four-game road trip against the Detroit Red Wings (11-6-5, 27 points) Thursday night at Little Ceasars Arena. The Golden Knights are 3-4-0 all-time against the Red Wings and will be playing them for the first time this season.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is not expected to play as he remains out due to personal reasons. Henderson Silver Knights call-up Daniil Miromanov is expected to slot in after being recalled on Thursday. This will be the first time Miromanov will get a look by the Golden Knights, in general, this season as the 25-year-old defenseman missed training camp coming off off-season surgery.

After a nine-game winning streak, the Golden Knights are looking to find their footing as they have gone 4-5-1 in their last ten games. The Seattle Kraken are challenging the VGK for the top spot in the Pacific Division standings, only two points behind. 

What to Watch For

Daniil's Debut

Daniil Miromanov is expected to make his season debut Saturday night for the VGK. The undrafted defenseman has 13 points in 17 games with the struggling Henderson Silver Knights so far this season. Expect him to play on the second powerplay unit.

It is unknown who Miromanov will take out of the lineup. Ben Hutton is probably the most likely candidate.

This will be the first time new head coach Bruce Cassidy will get a look at Miromanov, as he missed training camp coming off off-season surgery.

The Golden Knights have struggled defensively without Alex Pietrangelo in their lineup these last two games. Perhaps Miromanov can provide a fix and the Golden Knight's defense and get them back to the dominant force they were early in the season.

"I'm really excited. VGK, we've got a really good team this year, man. I'm really excited to play today; I have been waiting, and I'm really happy to be back from my surgery and from my injury… I'm really looking forward to playing and looking forward to the win," said Miromanov.

Wings in Slings

Much like the Golden Knights last season, the Detroit Red Wings have been slammed with injuries early on this season. They have over 100 man games lost in the NHL and are missing guys like Filip Zadina, Robbi Fabbri, Matt Luff, and Elmer Soderblom.

On the flip side, the Golden Knights have only had ten man-games lost to injury this season. All of them have come to bottom-six forwards as Brett Howden, Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar, and Will Carrier missed games. Howden will not play again on Saturday.

Canton's Own Cotter

A native of Canton, Michigan, Paul Cotter will likely have some extra motivation to perform against his hometown team. Cotter is only a game removed from his shootout heroics against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

Projected Vegas Golden Knights Line Combinations

Chandler Stephenson- Jack Eichel– Mark Stone (c)

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Jonathan Marchessault

Paul Cotter- Nicolas Roy- Phil Kessel

William Carrier- Jake Leschyshyn- Keegan Kolesar

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Alec Martinez

Daniil Miromanov- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Vegas Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stone, Eichel, Stephenson, Marchessault, Theodore

PP2: Howden, Karlsson, Smith, Kessel, Martinez

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, McNabb, Martinez

PK2: Stephenson, Stone, Hague, Whitecloud

IR/Scratches

Alex Pietrangelo/Brett Howden/Michael Amadio, Ben Hutton

Projected Red Wings Line Combinations

Dominik Kubalik- Dylan Larkin- David Perron

Pius Suter- Michael Rasmussen- Lucas Raymond

Adam Erne- Andrew Copp- Oskar Sundqvist

Jonathan Berggren- Joe Veleno- Austin Czarnik

Ben Chiarot- Mo Seider

Olli Maatta- Filip Hronek

Jake Walman- Jordan Oesterke

Ville Husso/Alex Nedeljkovic

Red Wings Special Teams

PP1- Sundqvist, Larkin, Kubalik, Perron, Seider

PP2- Berggren, Copp, Raymond, Walman, Hronek

PK1- Copp, Erne, Chiarot, Seider

PK2- Larkin, Suter, Maata, Hronek

IR/Scratches

Jakub Vrana*, Robbi Fabbri, Filip Zadina, Matt Luff, Mark Pysyk, Tyler Bertuzzi, Gustav Lindstrom, Elmer Soderblom/Robert Hagg, Magnus Hellberg

How to Watch/Listen

4:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+, and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.