GAME DAY: Malcolm Subban given start for Golden Knights vs. Oilers

Goaltender Malcolm Subban will start in place of injured Marc-Andre Fleury on Sunday when the Golden Knights host the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena.

Opening faceoff is 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Network.

The Knights (39-27-5, 83 points) will wear green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys during warmups that will be auctioned off.

“We’re going to go out tonight, and hopefully our game plan works against them, ” coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s going to be a battle. We know what type of players (Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl) are.

“They’re playing real good hockey lately. They’re trying to win as a team and they’re important cogs to their team, but … you hear (coach Ken) Hitchcock and they’re playing better hockey.”

Fleury, a Vezina Trophy candidate, is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to Gallant. His status for Monday’s game at second-place San Jose to finish off the back-to-back is uncertain.

Fleury made 40 saves in Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Dallas and did not appear to be injured when he met the media afterward.

Goaltender Maxime Lagace was recalled on an emergency basis from the American Hockey League on Sunday and will serve as the backup.

Subban (4-7-0, 3.13 goals-against average, .902 save percentage) has allowed five goals in each of his past two starts.

The Knights have won seven of their past eight and enter with a five-point lead over Arizona for third place in the Pacific Division.

Edmonton (32-32-7, 71 points) is clinging to its slim wild-card hopes, but gained a bit of ground with a 3-2 overtime at Arizona on Saturday in the first game a back-to-back.

McDavid had a hand in all three of Edmonton’s goals against the Coyotes, including the winner, and is second in the league with 103 points (36 goals, 67 assists).

He has seven straight multi-point games, which matches Toronto’s Auston Matthews (Oct. 3-15) and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (Dec. 18 – Jan. 3) for the longest streak in the NHL.

“You don’t really force Connor McDavid to do anything,” defenseman Nate Schmidt said. “You can deter some of the things he wants to do, but when you’re a player of his stature, you just try to make it as hard for him as possible. Yes, it comes down to a lot of our forwards and things like that, and there’s a lot of parts to the game. But for him, he’s one of the few guys in the world that can change the game when they’re in there.”

Goaltender Mikko Koskinen made 28 stops on Saturday, and the Oilers have not announced who will oppose Subban in net. Koskinen has started both games of a back-to-back on two occasions.

If not, backup Anthony Stolarz (4-4-3, 3.36 GAA, .903 SP) will get the nod.

Draisaitl is second in the league with 42 goals to go with a career-high 90 points.

The Oilers are 8-3-2 since Feb. 19.

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek-Cody Eakin-Alex Tuch

Ryan Carpenter-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Nate Schmidt-Deryk Engelland

Brayden McNabb-Shea Theodore