Golden Knights Gameday 51: Zach’s Back?: Lines and Notes vs Islanders

The Vegas Golden Knights (29-18-3, 61 points) will play one more game before they can relax and enjoy the BYE week/pause for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. They will round out their first half of the season schedule against the New York Islanders (24-22-5, 53 points) this afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

This is the second and final meeting of the season series between these two teams. The Golden Knights are 4-5-0 all-time against NYI.

Both the Golden Knights and the Islanders are coming off a game last night, with the VGK losing 4-1 to the New York Rangers and the Isles defeating the Detroit Red Wings 2-0. All-Star Logan Thompson is expected to start for the Golden Knights, given that Adin Hill played against the Rangers last night.

There is a possibility that injured defensemen Zach Whitecloud could return to the VGK lineup in this game. Whitecloud, who has missed 20 games with a lower-body injury, is traveling with the team and was spotted wearing a regular contact practice jersey in the team's morning skate yesterday.

Overall, the Golden Knights are looking to find some footing in their season as they have lost six out of their last seven games, all of which have come without captain Mark Stone. Both the Seattle Kraken and Los Angeles Kings have passed the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division standings.

What To Watch For

Scoring Stars

Ever since Mark Stone left with an injury, the Golden Knight's remaining star forwards have not produced up to their expectations. Jack Eichel is a -12 in his last nine games, Reilly Smith, the team's leading goal-scorer, has not scored in eleven games, and Chandler Stephenson has not scored in his last eight.

It's as simple as the stars not producing, and for the Golden Knights to get back on track, they need their leaders to lead.

First Goal

The offense, as a whole, has been hard to come by for the Golden Knights recently. Specifically in the first period, it has crushed the team's chances of winning as they have only scored four first-period goals in their last nine games. This leaves them chasing for the remainder of the games. 

Coming out with the first goal against an Islander team that also has trouble scoring will be critical for success in this game.

Win For LT

Golden Knight goaltender Logan Thompson has been putting some harsh criticism on himself lately, as he has blamed his recent play as the reason the Golden Knights have been struggling. In reality, Thompson's play is 

Now playing in his first game since he stated that "everyone was doing their job right now except for him," Thompson will look to rebound, even though the loss against the Devils was not entirely his fault.

Thompson is one of the most wholesome individuals in the Golden Knights locker room and is beloved by his teammates. A great present for him to send him off to the All-Star Game would be some more offense and a win to get both him and the team back on track.

Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Michael Amadio

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Jonathan Marchessault

Will Carrier- Chandler Stephenson- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Ben Hutton

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Shea Weber, Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Zach Whitecloud, Daniil Miromanov/Kaedan Korczak, Byron Froese

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stephenson, Marchessault, Smith, Eichel, Pietrangelo

PP2: Cotter, Karlsson, Kessel, Roy, Theodore

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Roy, Hague, Martinez

IR/Scratches

Shea Weber, Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Zach Whitecloud, Daniil Miromanov

Projected Islanders Line Combinations

Andres Lee (c)- Brock Nelson- Kyle Palmieri

Anthony Beauvillier- Mat Barzal- Casey Cizikas

Zach Parise- Jean-Gabriel Pageau- Simon Holmstrom

Matt Martin- Aatu Raty- Josh Bailey

Alexander Romanov- Scott Mayfield

Adam Pelech- Ryan Pulock

Samuel Bolduc- Sebastian Aho

Semyon Varlamov/Ilya Sorokin

Islanders Special Teams

PP1- Lee, Barzal, Palmieri, Bolduc, Nelson

PP2- Parise, Pageau, Bailey, Aho, Beauvillier

PK1- Cizikas, Bailey, Romanov, Mayfield

PK2- Pageau, Parise, Pelech, Pulock

IR/Scratches

Cal Clutterbuck, Oliver Wahlstrom, Hudson Fasching, Noah Dobson/Parker Wotherspoon, Richard Panik

How to Watch/Listen

4:30 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.