Golden Knights Gameday 53: For the Dads: Lines and Notes vs Wild

The Vegas Golden Knights (30-18-4, 64 points) will try and sweep their dad's trip with another win Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild (27-19-4, 58 points). The VGK are 6-0-1 all-time during dad's trips and are coming off a day of curling in St. Paul with their families.

With the team now 99% healthy (even though that 1% makes such a difference), no lineup changes are expected for the Golden Knights outside of Logan Thompson tending the goal. The Golden Knights are back atop the Pacific Division with 64 points but have multiple teams pressuring them.

This is the first game of the season series between these two teams. Former Golden Knights Marc-Andre Fleury and Ryan Reaves will are expected to play.

What to Watch For

Cassidy the Chemist?

Head coach Bruce Cassidy make have tweaked his third line into perfection as the unlikely third line of Will Carrier, Chandler Stephenson, and Phil Kessel has been great these last few games. 

The line provides the perfect mix of skill, speed, and size and all three players had a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators.

Thompson Time

Given the All-Star Break and that Adin Hill played against the Predators, Logan Thompson is expected to make his first start since Jan. 28th. Getting the All-Star goalie into the game early will be key.

Switch-Up Scoring

The Golden Knights love to score off the rush, but may have to adjust their methods of scoring as the Wild allow an average of just 6.2 giveaways per game, which is last in the NHL.

Projected Golden Knights Line Combinations

Paul Cotter- Jack Eichel- Jonathan Marchessault

Reilly Smith- William Karlsson- Michael Amadio

Will Carrier- Chandler Stephenson- Phil Kessel

Brett Howden- Nicolas Roy- Keegan Kolesar

Alec Martinez- Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague- Zach Whitecloud

Logan Thompson/Adin Hill

Golden Knights Special Teams

PP1: Stephenson, Marchessault, Roy, Eichel, Pietrangelo

PP2: Carrier, Karlsson, Kessel, Smith, Theodore

PK1: Karlsson, Smith, McNabb, Pietrangelo

PK2: Stephenson, Roy, Whitecloud, Martinez

IR/Scratches

Shea Weber, Nolan Patrick, Robin Lehner/Mark Stone (c), Daniil Miromanov/Ben Hutton

Projected Wild Line Combinations

Kirill Kaprizov- Ryan Hartman- Mats Zuccarello

Matt Boldy- Sam Steel- Frederick Gaudreau

Jordan Greenway- Joel Eriksson Ek- Marcus Foligno

Brandon Duhaime- Connor Dewar- Ryan Reaves

Jacob Middleton- Jared Spurgeon (c)

Alex Goligoski- Matt Dumba

Jon Merrill- Calen Addison

Marc-Andre Fleury/Filip Gustavsson

Wild Special Teams

PP1- Zuccarello, Eriksson Ek, Boldy, Addison, Kaprizov

PP2- Foligno, Steel, Hartman, Spurgeon, Gaudreau

PK1- Eriksson Ek, Gaudreau, Middleton, Dumba

PK2- Duhaime, Foligno, Goligoski, Spurgeon

IR/Scratches

Jonas Brodin, Pavel Novak/Mason Shaw

How to Watch/Listen

5:00 p.m. on AT&T Sportsnet, ESPN+ and Fox Sports 98.9 FM Radio.