Tight schedule could present challenges for Golden Knights

The Golden Knights have been dealing with a condensed schedule since the season began. Their recent break from team activities is about to make things even tighter.

Starting Friday, the Knights are scheduled to play 49 games in 96 days. Originally, the schedule had them playing 56 games in 116 days.

The team played 71 games in 160 days last season before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to pause its season.

Assistant coach Steve Spott said the Knights will have to be mindful of keeping players rested.

“It’s going to be hard,” Spott said Wednesday, the first day the Knights were allowed to return to practice because of COVID-19 protocols. “There will be a lot of teaching this year with video.”

The Knights don’t have to look far to see the toll of playing a lot of games in a short period. In their division, the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild had several notable absences in their game Tuesday.

Colorado, which won 2-1, was missing star center Nathan MacKinnon, forwards Matt Calvert and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, defensemen Devon Toews and Erik Johnson, and backup goaltender Pavel Francouz. All are considered week to week.

Minnesota’s absences included injured players Marcus Johansson and Matt Dumba, suspended forward Kevin Fiala and forward Marcus Foligno, who is in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols. Wild captain Jared Spurgeon left the game early with an injury.

The Knights don’t want to be in the same situation, but captain Mark Stone thinks there might be benefits to the squeeze. The team will have less down time on the road, where activities are restricted.

“I don’t really want to be sitting in my hotel room with nothing to do,” Stone said. “It’s going to be tougher obviously, physically, but mentally I think it’s going to help us.”

Korczak put on taxi squad

Knights prospect Kaedan Korczak was added to the team’s taxi squad Wednesday.

Korczak, the team’s second-round pick in 2019, had been skating with the Silver Knights while waiting to see if his junior season will begin. He had 49 points in 60 games last season with the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets and was part of Canada’s silver-medal winning World Junior team this winter.

“It’s been a dream of mine to play in the NHL, and this is obviously the first step to that,” Korczak said

Silver Knights TV schedule

Ten of the Silver Knights’ 40 games in their inaugural season will be televised on KVCW-DT, starting with Saturday’s opener against the Ontario Reign.

Brian McCormack, the team’s radio voice, will handle play-by-play, and AT&T Sportsnet analyst Mike McKenna will provide color commentary. McKenna played 14 seasons in the American Hockey League as a goaltender and has the eighth-most wins (231) in league history.

Tirico on Tahoe call

NBC broadcaster Mike Tirico will call the Knights’ outdoor game Feb. 20 at Lake Tahoe. The noon matchup against the Colorado Avalanche will be televised on KSNV-3.

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.