Golden Knights take on Blues in battle of division winners

By Justin Emerson

Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020 | 2 a.m.

When the season paused in March, the Golden Knights were one of the hottest teams around. All they could do was win, skyrocketing to the top of the Pacific Division and cruising toward the postseason. A four-month layoff has a way of impacting momentum, however, and Vegas needs to build back up to where it was.

Today's 3:30 p.m. game at Rogers Place in Edmonton against the St. Louis Blues presents an intriguing litmus test. All camp the Golden Knights have said they want to get back where they were in March, and after a slow start in their first game on Monday, they have a chance to show the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues they're one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

"When you're trying to measure yourself up against the league and you're playing the defending champions, in this round they're probably one of the top teams you've got to really focus and make sure you're ready for," defenseman Nick Holden said. "If we come out kind of like we did against Dallas, the game might be over after the first period."

Not all wins are created equal. Vegas was down 3-1 after two periods in its round-robin opener against the Stars, then rallied for four goals in the third. The Golden Knights were happy with the outcome, but not the process that got them there.

The Blues are in a similar situation, needing a win to stay in the hunt for seeding. They came up on the short end of one of the closest buzzer-beaters in NHL history in their first postseason game, and fell to the Avalanche. The top seed in the Western Conference entering the tournament, St. Louis is looking at the prospects of a bottom seed if it can't get through the Golden Knights.

It's the Western Conference's two division winners, fighting in a round-robin game where the stakes may not seem dire on the surface, but a game that both teams desperately want to win.

"Obviously there's not as much on the line as other teams that are playing in the qualification right now," forward William Karlsson said. "It's not like you don't care. We do care and we want to get the No. 1 seed."

The Blues remain the last team the Golden Knights have yet to beat in regulation. It's not that the Golden Knights can't beat the Blues — they have four wins in nine all-time meetings — but the need for points and to prevent the other teams from getting them is heightened in a three-game round-robin.

If the Golden Knights win against the Blues, their matchup against the Avalanche will be for the top seed. An overtime or shootout loss would leave open the possibility for either the first, second or third seed. A regulation loss would eliminate them from contention for the top seed. The Golden Knights have clinched a top-three seed with Dallas' loss to Colorado on Wednesday.

The Golden Knights will return the lineup they started the last two games with, and not the reconfigured lines they used to finish the Dallas game. The team did not name a starting goalie, but the expectation is that Marc-Andre Fleury will take the net after playing in an exhibition game last week.

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-115, Blues minus-105; over/under: 5.5 (plus-110, minus-130)

Western Conference Round-Robin standings:

Colorado Avalanche: 4 points, 2 games played

Vegas Golden Knights: 2 points, 1 game played

St. Louis Blues: 0 points, 1 game played

Dallas Stars: 0 points, 2 games played

Golden Knights (1-0-0, 2 points), second, Western Conference Round-Robin

Coach: Peter DeBoer (first season)

Points leaders: William Karlsson, Nate Schmidt, Mark Stone (2)

Goals leaders: William Carrier, William Karlsson, Nate Schmidt, Chandler Stephenson, Mark Stone (1)

Assists leaders: Eight players (1)

Expected goalie (regular season stats): Marc-Andre Fleury (2.77 GAA, .905 save percentage)

Blues (0-1-0, 0 points), t-third place, Western Conference Round-Robin

Coach: Craig Berube (second season)

Points leaders: Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn (1)

Goals leader: David Perron (1)

Assists leaders: Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn (1)

Expected goalie: Jordan Binnington (2.02 GAA, .947 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Chandler Stephenson—William Karlsson—Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault—Paul Stastny—Reilly Smith

Nick Cousins—Nicolas Roy—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Tomas Nosek—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Alec Martinez—Shea Theodore

Nick Holden—Zach Whitecloud

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Robin Lehner