The Vegas Golden Knights begin their quest for their second Stanley Cup with a first-round battle against the Minnesota Wild.
The Golden Knights finished the season as the two seed in the Western Conference, while the Wild finished as the seventh seed. Despite that, the series is highly anticipated and will be increasingly difficult with the recent returns of Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jared Spurgeon.
Like the Wild, the Golden Knights step into the playoffs at full health, with depth aplenty. Jack Eichel recently returned from an upper-body injury, Alex Pietrangelo was able to nurse a lingering ailment, and Adin Hill was given ample rest.
Although HC Bruce Cassidy hasn't confirmed what his lineup will look like, he mentioned recently that he'd like to continue to use what's been successful in the regular season.
The Golden Knights projected lines:
Barbashev-Eichel-Stone
Saad-Hertl-Dorofeyev
Smith-Karlsson-Olofsson
Howden-Roy-Kolsear
Hanifin-Pietrangelo
McNabb-Theodore
Hague-Whitecloud
Hill
Samsonov
Extras: Pearson, Holtz, Schwindt, Rondbjerg, Korczak, Hutton and Schmid
The Golden Knights are statistically better offensively and defensively than the Wild and hold a large advantage on the power play. The Golden Knights ranked second on the power play during the regular season, and the Wild ranked 30th on the penalty kill. Special teams are important to playoff success and the Golden Knights hold the early advantage.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM PST at T-Mobile Arena.
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Golden Knights Sticking With Lines That Have WorkedThe Vegas Golden Knights flamed out in the first round of the playoffs last year to the Dallas Stars in large part due to HC Bruce Cassidy’s inability to find the best lines. The blame can’t all be put on him as the Golden Knights were ravaged with injuries and did not have enough time to build chemistry among linemates.
"I think he is one of the most under appreciated defensemen in the league," Golden Knights Head Coach Hands Out High Praise For Defensive DefensemanVegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb finished the season with a +/- rating of +42, the second-best in the NHL, earning high praise from HC Bruce Cassidy.