Golden Knights may reach to taxi squad for back-to-back

The Golden Knights entered the bubble in Edmonton, Alberta, with a 31-player roster and the expectation that at least some of those eight extra bodies would be needed during the postseason.

With the status of forwards Tomas Nosek and Max Pacioretty up in the air, the Knights could call on their taxi squad for Saturday’s nationally televised Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against Chicago.

The Knights own a 2-0 lead, and teams that win the first two games in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win 86.4 percent of the time, according to NHL public relations.

“We’re going to dig into that group sooner than later because of injuries and different things,” coach Pete DeBoer said this week. “I’m very comfortable with all those guys there that they’ll be ready to come in and contribute when we call on them.”

Nosek replaced Pacioretty in the lineup after the former was a healthy scratch for Game 1 and scored in the first period of Thursday’s 4-3 overtime victory before he sustained an apparent injury in the second period.

Nosek went down with about 4:30 remaining in the period after a brief puck battle with Chicago’s Jonathan Toews in the offensive zone. He finished his shift, but did not appear after the 16:27 mark of the second period.

Pacioretty, the team’s leading scorer during the regular season, returned Tuesday for the series opener after missing the exhibition game and all of the round robin with a minor injury.

He finished with four shots on goal in 18:08 of ice time but didn’t appear to be at full strength and was ruled “unfit to play” for Game 2.

DeBoer said during a videoconference call Friday morning that Nosek and Pacioretty were receiving treatment and their availability will be determined Saturday.

If both players are ruled out, the leading candidates to fill the hole in the lineup are forwards Patrick Brown and Gage Quinney. Reid Duke and 19-year-old Peyton Krebs, the Knights’ first-round pick in 2019, also are possibilities.

Brown, 28, scored in his lone appearance for the Knights and played in eight games with Carolina during the 2018-19 postseason. He also helped Charlotte of the American Hockey League to the Calder Cup championship last season.

Quinney is the first Nevada-born player to appear in an NHL game and had one assist in three appearances with the Knights.

Since the Knights arrived in Edmonton, the taxi squad has practiced with director of hockey operations Misha Donskov separately from the game players.

“They’re basically on the same schedule as us. They participate in all our team meetings and all our team events,” DeBoer said. “Misha Donskov, who’s on our staff, does a great job with not only skills but mimicking what we’re doing in practice and making sure those guys are doing the same thing because we’re going to need those guys.”

The back-to-back games may have forced the Knights to rotate their lineup regardless of Nosek and Pacioretty’s health.

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who lost the No. 1 job to Robin Lehner, could start the back end of the back-to-back on Sunday. DeBoer might also look to give players like defensemen Jon Merrill or Deryk Engelland game action to keep them sharp.

The Blackhawks were 9-4-1 on the second game of back-to-backs during the regular season.

“It really taxes your roster and tests your depth because playoff hockey, you’re dealing with a lot of bumps and bruises and night-to-night decisions on guys,” DeBoer said. “But I think anybody that’s built for a deep run has that type of depth, and I think it’s a great test of the best team’s depth and being able to survive that and go back at it.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.