Game 45

Buffalo Sabres vs. Vegas Golden Knights

Puck Drop: 10:00 PM EST | T-Mobile Arena | Las Vegas, Nevada

TV: ESPN+, Hulu

Radio: WGR 550

SB Nation Golden Knights Blog: Knights on Ice

Know Your Opponent

Vegas Golden Knights

Record: (26-16-3) | 55 PTS

Division Ranking: 1st in Pacific Division

Last Game: 3-2 SO Win vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

PP: 19.8% (16th)

PK: 79.2% (19th)

1. No Eichel…Yet

While fans would probably love to see a matchup where former Sabre Jack Eichel is on the ice, we will all have to wait a little bit longer. Eichel, who is still recovering from disk replacement surgery, had his first no-contact practice with his new team a few weeks ago. The timeline for his return remains up in the air but is estimated to be around mid-March. The Sabres host the Golden Knights on March 10, so if he ends up being ahead of schedule, that would be the game to tune in on (especially being that it is in Buffalo).

It is, however, the first time Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs will face their former teammates, which should prove interesting to watch. Tuch was quoted saying he would like to “try and stick it to the Golden Knights a little bit.” Hey, that could be fun!

The last time these two teams met was before COVID on February 28, 2020 with a final score of 4-2 in favor of Vegas.

2. Lunar New Year

Vegas plans to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which marks the Year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. During pre-game warmups, Golden Knights jerseys will feature each player’s last name written in Mandarin and will later be part of an online auction to benefit the Asian Chamber of Commerce. While we always hope for a good game, if anything, the pre-game entertainment in Las Vegas is always just that: entertaining.

3. Hot Players to Watch

Since his debut in late December, Tuch has tallied 12 points in 12 games and has significantly helped improve the Sabres’ offense. A few more hot players as of late are Krebs, who has four points in four games, and Skinner who has nine points in his last nine games. Are we noticing a trend here? Sprinkle Dylan Cozens in there and you have some very good players that will likely continue to make an impact on the scoreboard.

Projected Lineups

Buffalo Sabres

Forwards

Peyton Krebs – Casey Mittelstadt*- Alex Tuch

Jeff Skinner – Dylan Cozens – Kyle Okposo

Anders Bjork – Cody Eakin – Victor Olofsson

Mark Jankowski – John Hayden

Defense

Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju

Mattias Samuelsson – Casey Fitzgerald

Jacob Bryson – Mark Pysyk

Starting Goaltender: Craig Anderson (expected)

*Mittelstadt left Sunday’s game very early and did not return. The status of his season-long recovery from an upper-body injury is still up in the air.

Vegas Golden Knights

Forwards

Max Pacioretty – Nolan Patrick – Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith

Mattias Janmark – Nicolas Roy – Evgenii Dadonov

William Carrier – Brett Howden – Keegan Kolesar

Defense

Nicolas Hague – Alex Pietrangelo

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Ben Hutton – Zach Whitecloud

Starting Goaltender: Robin Lehner (expected)