Game Preview – 10/10/2018 – Vegas Golden Knights v. Washington Capitals

 

Time: 8p EST

Station: NBCSN

 

Preview:

In a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Finals, the Vegas Golden Knights visit the Washington Capitals as they renew their rivalary from this past summer. The Capitals will not have a very different looking lineup compared to the last time these two faced, but Michal Kempny will be making his regular season debut, and Dmitrij Jaskin will be making his Washington Capitals debut. Vegas on the other hand have some new faces in their lineup, but will be without free agent addition Paul Stastny for tonight’s game.

 

Vegas Golden Knights:

Projected Lineup:

Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty – Erik Haula – Tomas Nosek

Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – Oscar Lindberg

William Carrier – Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Colin Miller

Deryk Engelland – Shea Theodore

Jon Merril – Nick Holden

Marc-Andre Fleury

Malcolm Subban

 

Keys to the Game:

1. Get a good start

The Golden Knights are looking tonstart this game strong. This is their 4th game of the season already, and their first 3 games have been met with mixed results. If Vegas can get their legs moving early, they can give themselves a chance to a strong game.

 

Washington Capitals:

Projected Lineup:

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Brett Connolly

Jakub Vrana – Nicklas Backstrom – TJ Oshie

Chandler Stephenson – Lars Eller – Andre Burakovsky

Dmitrij Jaskin – Nic Dowd – Devante Smith-Pelly

Michal Kempny – John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov – Matt Niskanen

Christian Djoos – Brooks Orpik

Braden Holtby

Pheonix Copley

 

Keys to the Game:

1. Be consistent in the faceoff circle

In the Capitals season opener, they were abysmal in the faceoff circle against Boston, but the next night in Pittsburgh they were much better. Tonight against Vegas the Capitals will want to repeat how they did in the faceoff circle against Pittsburgh.

 

2. Keep your feet moving

Against Boston the Capitals did everything right, and they benefited from it. However, against Pittsburgh they did not and the sloppy play costed them. Vegas will be looking for vengeance for being defeated in five games in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Capitals will need to play their game, and keep their feet moving.

 

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