Golden Knights’ No. 3 line suffering from power outage

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Golden Knights like to boast how all four lines are similar and that’s what makes them tough to play against.

At the moment, one of the lines is struggling offensively.

The third line of Cody Eakin, Alex Tuch and Brendan Leipsic has combined for only two points in its last eight games. And while none of the line members claims to be frustrated, each knows he needs to carry his share of the offensive load.

“We’re getting chances,” Tuch said. “We’re just not getting any of them to go in.”

Leipsic said: “We’re working hard and we’re making plays and sooner or later they’re going to start going in.”

Knights coach Gerard Gallant isn’t going to break up the line, which has combined for 17 goals and 36 assists. He’d like for them to work it out. But in the latter stages of Tuesday’s 4-2 win over Calgary, Gallant opted to shorten things and went with the fourth line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Will Carrier and Oscar Lindberg, bypassing Eakin’s line.

“They’re working hard,” Gallant said of his third line. “They’re creating chances. And as long as they’re responsible in the defensive end of the ice, that’s what I want to see.”

McNabb set to return

Brayden McNabb left the team Tuesday while the Knights were in Calgary to get checked out by the team’s medical staff in Las Vegas. According to Gallant, McNabb has been cleared to return to action. He is expected to rejoin the team in Winnipeg for Thursday’s game against the Jets. But he may not play until Friday at Minnesota.

“He’s a game-time decision,” Gallant said Wednesday after the team went through a 35-minute practice at the Bell MTS Place. “The good news is he’s been cleared to play, but he hasn’t skated with the team for a few days, so we’ll see how it goes.”

McNabb has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury. His last action came Jan. 23 against Columbus.

Rubber match

Thursday marks the final game of the regular season for the Knights against Winnipeg. The teams split the first two meetings, each winning in its home rink.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons, and we need to make sure we stay out of the (penalty) box,” Gallant said. “The last time, we didn’t do a good job of that, and they got a couple of power-play goals on us in the third period.”

The Jets were 3-for-5 on the power play in their 7-4 victory Dec. 1. In the Knights’ 5-2 triumph Nov. 10 at T-Mobile Arena, Winnipeg was just 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.