GAME DAY: Golden Knights open 2-game road trip in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Golden Knights begin a two-game road trip through the Central Division on Tuesday when they meet the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena.
Opening faceoff is 5 p.m. Pacific time, and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
“They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower, plus a really good defensive corps,” forward Alex Tuch. “They’ve got a little bit of everything and they play hard. We’ve just go to outwork them, play smart and not give them any odd-man rushes.”
Goaltender Malcolm Subban will make his second start of the season — and third appearance — for the Knights.
Subban made 41 saves and stopped all six attempts in the shootout during the Knights’ 4-3 victory at Nashville on Dec. 8, 2017.
“It’s time for him to play a game,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s had great success in this building; he’s played really well. … He needs to play some games, and we’ve got confidence in him.”
Injured left wing Max Pacioretty did not make the trip, but center Cody Eakin will be in the lineup after he took an illegal hit to the head from Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki in Sunday’s 4-3 overtime victory.
“Yesterday we got on the plane and they said everything’s fine,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s definitely a relief. You hate to see a guy go down and miss the rest of the game. They do the right thing and make sure he’s fine, and he’s ready to go today.”
The Predators are expected to make changes to their lineup following Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Edmonton.
Goaltender Juuse Saros likely will start for Nashville with Pekka Rinne not slated to come off injured reserve until Wednesday at the earliest.
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith
Alex Tuch-Erik Haula-Tomas Hyka
Tomas Nosek-Cody Eakin-Ryan Carpenter
William Carrier-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Shea Theodore-Deryk Engelland
Brayden McNabb-Colin Miller
Nick Holden-Jon Merrill
Goaltender
Malcolm Subban
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
