Tonight is all about Patrick Marleau, who will set the record for most NHL games played with 1768. It’s a tremendous feat — that unfortunately has to happen in Vegas, and more unfortunately during a season that’s almost entirely without fans. The Minnesota Wild honored Marleau for tying Gordie Howe’s record, so let’s see what the Vegas Golden Knights have planned.
Vegas is currently on a six-game winning streak, sweeping a series against each of the Arizona Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings and most recently, the Anaheim Ducks. Forward Reilly Smith will be a game-time decision, after an injury took him out of the game in the third period against the Ducks on Sunday. Ryan Reaves, a fan “favorite” is out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury.
The San Jose Sharks are on a five-game losing streak, and still somehow six points from “oops-a-daisy”-ing themselves into a final playoff spot. But have no fear: after being named a NHL Star of the Week, Martin Jones has returned to his usual form, making sure that worst-case scenario doesn’t play out. He’ll be starting in net tonight.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in:
Lines
SAN JOSE SHARKS
Evander Kane — Logan Couture — Noah Gregor
Rudolfs Balcers — Tomas Hertl — Patrick Marleau
Timo Meier — Dylan Gambrell — Kevin Labanc
John Leonard — Joel Kellman — Ryan Donato
Mario Ferraro — Brent Burns
Nikolai Knyzhov — Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek — Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Martin Jones
Josef Korenar
Expected Scratches: Kurtis Gabriel, Christian Jaros, John Leonard, Jeffrey Viel, Fredrik Handemark
Injured Reserve: Matt Nieto (lower body)
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Max Pacioretty — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Mattias Janmark — Tomas Nosek — Alex Tuch
William Carrier — Nicolas Roy — Tomas Jurco
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Alec Martinez — Alex Pietrangelo
Nicolas Hague — Zach Whitecloud
Robin Lehner
Marc-Andre Fleury
Expected Scratches: Dylan Coghlan
Injured Reserve: Keegan Kolesar (lower body), Ryan Reaves (undisclosed)
How to Watch
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tonight’s game will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and regionally on NBC Sports California and ATTSN-RM, as well as available to stream through NHL.tv (blackout restrictions apply) or fubotv.
Follow along in the comments for live updates and reactions throughout the game!
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