Fleury seeks to remain best goalie in the league against the Avs

Vegas will stick with an identical lineup.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Fleury seeks to remain best goalie in the league against the Avs
Zuma Press

The Golden Knights are facing off against the Colorado Avalanche at 3 PM this afternoon. The Avalanche are enjoying a great start to their 2019-20 campaign so far with a record of 7-1-1 through the 9 first games of the season.

Earlier this week, Vegas netminder Marc-André Fleury earned his 446th career win against the Chicago Blackhawks in a tight game that ended in the shootout with a game-winning goal from none other than d-man Shea Theodore. Fleury moved up the NHL's all-time wins list for goalkeepers, passing the legendary Terry Sawchuck.

The Quebec-born veteran will have the opportunity to keep stacking up the W's as he starts this afternoon's game against Colorado. Fleury will have a different backup today as Oscar Dansk was reassigned to the AHL's Chicago Wolves while Garret Sparks was called up. Sparks will suit up for the Golden Knights as the backup against the Avalanche.

This minor change to Vegas' goaltender situation is the only modification made to the formation by coach Gallant. The forward lines and defensive pairings will remain the exact same as for the previous few games. Why make changes when you're having success, right?

Recent call-up Nicolas Roy will have to wait once more before making his debut with the Golden Knights as he and Nicolas Hague will be healthy scratches for this afternoon's game.

Here is the Golden Knights projected lineup according the NHL.com correspondent Danny Webster:

Forwards:

Jonathan Marchessault - William Karlsson - Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty - Paul Stastny - Mark Stone

Brandon Pirri - Cody Eakin - Cody Glass

William Carrier - Tomas Nosek - Ryan Reaves

Defensemen:

Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore

Jon Merrill - Nick Holden

Jake Bischoff - Deryk Engelland

Goaltenders:

Marc-André Fleury

Garret Sparks

Nate Schmidt, Alex Tuch and Malcolm Subban are still nursing injuries while Valentin Zykov is serving his suspension for the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The Colorado Avalanche's recent good run of form is in large part thanks to the offensive production of captain Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon who will form the first offensive line with J.T. Compher as young gun Mikko Rantanen is out with an injury.

Rookie defenseman Cale Makar is another player to watch out for in the Colorado team as he has found immediate success in the NHL and is become a tangible offensive threat from the blue line.

We should have a great hockey game between two hockey teams in great form.