Splitting the first two games of a six-game homestand, the Vegas Golden Knights look to keep the positive momentum on their side.
On Thursday, the Golden Knights wrap up their season series against the Tampa Bay Lightning at T-Mobile Arena.
The two have already squared off in Tampa, with the Lightning claiming a 2-1 victory over the Golden Knights on Oct. 26. The game was a far more dominant performance than the score indicated, with the Golden Knights never finding their game throughout the contest. It was the heroics of rookie netminder Carl Lindbom in his first career NHL game that salvaged a point for the road team.
In order to establish a stronger 60-minute effort this time around, here is what the Golden Knights will be looking for.
Despite Akira Schmid putting together a shutout in the previous game against the Detroit Red Wings, the Golden Knights are turning back to Lindbom against a familiar foe.
Lindbom has not had the easiest ride in his first stint at the NHL level, with his first two starts coming against the Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche. Despite taking the loss in both contests, neither was on the goalie, who sports a 2.50 goals against average and .906 save percentage so far. If Lindbom can finally crack the win column in his third start against a high-powered Lightning offense, that would go a long way towards establishing the Swede as the future in net for Vegas.
Morning skate revealed another interesting setup, as Mitch Marner is now back on the top line alongside Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev.
The top line has seen an influx of wingers to play alongside the two, with Brandon Saad, Alexander Holtz and Brett Howden all getting games. However, after a hot start that saw him win the First Star of the Month in October, Eichel has cooled considerably with no points in four of the previous five games. While Marner has seen success on the second line with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev recently, bringing him to play alongside Eichel could lead to a serious uptick in production for both star players.
The 1-0 score might indicate otherwise, but the Golden Knights’ last time out against the Red Wings was possibly their best 60-minute effort of the young season.
Despite scoring one goal, the offense was able to pepper Detroit goaltender John Gibson with good shots and found ways to get high-percentage looks in the offensive zone. Defense maintained good discipline with only two penalties on the game, and Schmid was up to the task of stopping any shots that came through. Stopping a solid opponent in Detroit was a huge win for the Golden Knights, who enter this game with a nice surge of momentum.