Before we get into it all, let’s talk about the elephant in the room surrounding the Vegas Golden Knights. Skip ahead to after the line if you don’t want to read this part, because there is a bit of a trigger warning.
As if you need another reason to say F*** Vegas. It sounds like the Golden Knights are the frontrunners to sign goaltender Carter Hart, one of five former Hockey Canada players who were on trial and accused of sexually assaulting an extremely intoxicated woman in a hotel room. Hart was the only one of the five players to testify in the trial. While the woman, identified as E.M. said she felt pressured into having oral sex with Hart, he said it was consensual.
Ultimately, Hart and the other four players were acquitted of the charges, though many fans feel that, morally, there was more that the players could have done.
Okay, to the game. The San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights play one more time in the preseason before the games count for real. Tonight, the Sharks head to Vegas for the final preseason meeting between the two teams. The Sharks won the first matchup on Sept. 21, but lost the second one on Sept. 26. This is the rubber match, though the preseason doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things.
For Vegas, this is the team’s final preseason game, so look for the Golden Knights to ice the closest thing it can get to an NHL lineup. Rookie center Michael Misa seems to know that he’s going to face his toughest challenge yet. He told the media this morning that he’s up for the challenge.
Michael Misa on facing a stacked VGK lineup tonight:
— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) October 3, 2025
"It's going to be a big one, big challenge. Kind of the real first taste of (facing) a full NHL lineup, probably, I assume. It's gonna be exciting."
“It’s going to be a big one, big challenge. Kind of the real first taste of (facing) a full NHL lineup, probably, I assume. It’s gonna be exciting,” the Bay Area News Group’s Curtis Pashelka quoted Misa.
It will be interesting to see how Misa responds and reacts to a full NHL lineup. After Wednesday’s game, Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky felt as though the 18-year-old had difficulty adjusting to the speed of the NHL game. Obviously, that’s to be expected of a kid moving from junior hockey to the best game in the league. It’s how he adjusts to that which will be the true test as the season moves forward.
Missing from the lineup will be Macklin Celebrini. He’s still recovering from an “illness,” though he was skating with the team and was taking full contact in workouts in San Jose today. It’s not confirmed, but he could skate tomorrow night in the team’s final preseason game in Utah.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
For the Sharks, here’s what the lines look like tonight, according to San Jose Hockey Now’s Sheng Peng.
#SJSharks game group lines:
— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) October 3, 2025
Musty-Misa-Smith
Graf-Dellandrea-Lund
Regenda-Ostapchuk-Cardwell
Grundstrom-Bowers-Afanasyev
Mukhamadullin-Liljegren
Dickinson-Desharnais
Cagnoni-Thompson
Pashelka reports that Alex Nedeljkovic will start in the net. Since Yaroslav Askarov played the whole game on Wednesday and the Sharks play tomorrow, we expect that Nedeljkovic will play all day tonight.
Forwards
Quentin Musty – Michael Misa – Will Smith
Collin Graf – Ty Dellandrea – Cam Lund
Pavol Regenda – Zack Ostapchuk – Ethan Cardwell
Carl Grundstrom – Shane Bowers – Egor Afanasyev
Defense
Shakir Mukhamadullin – Timothy Liljegren
Sam Dickinson – Vincent Desharnais
Luca Cagnoni – Jack Thompson
Goaltenders
Alex Nedeljkovic
Yaroslav Askarov
Vegas Golden Knights lines for Oct. 3, 2025
On the other side of the ice, SinBinVegas has the following lineup at the morning skate. It looks like Adin Hill will start in the net with Akira Schmid backing up.
Lines at morning skate before the final (thank God) preseason game of the year.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) October 3, 2025
Barbashev-Eichel-Marner
Smith-Karlsson-Stone
Saad-Hertl-Holtz
Howden-Sissons-Kolesar
McNabb-Theodore
Hanifin-Whitecloud
Lauzon-Korczak
Hill
Schmid
Forwards
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Mitch Marner
Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Mark Stone
Brandon Saad – Tomas Hertl – Alexander Holtz
Brett Howden – Colton Sissons – Keegan Kolesar
Defense
Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin – Zach Whitecloud
Jeremy Lauzon – Kaedan Korczak
Goaltenders
Adin Hill
Akira Schmid
How to watch Sharks at Golden Knights tonight
The puck drops at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.
Sharks fans can watch on the Sharks Digital Platforms or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
For Vegas fans, you can watch the game on The Spot-Vegas 34 or on KnightTime+ for a free trial during preseason. On the radio, listeners can hear the call on FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.
As always, you can tune in here at Fear the Fin to watch the game and talk about what’s happening on and off the ice with other Sharks fans.
