Stanley Cup Finals Game 4: Projected Lineups & Game Notes

The Vegas Golden Knights have lost games 2 and 3 and that is going to result in them making some lineup changes for Game 4. 

This marks just the second time in these playoffs that the Golden Knights have trailed in a series—the first time was after Game 1 against the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Final. 

The Washington Capitals will stick with the lineup that worked in the last two games. They tightened things up in Game 3 and Braden Holtby handled the lighter workload just as good as he handled the heavy volume of shots in Game 2. After a tough series opener, Holtby has now stopped 58 of the last 61 shots (.951 SV%) that he has faced. 

Golden Knights’ head coach Gerard Gallant confirmed that Tomas Tatar will play for the first time this series. While he did not announce who Tatar will replace, based on line rushes in the morning skate, David Perron will be the healthy scratch. Tatar has one goal in six playoff games so far. 

Gallant also hinted at other possible line changes, but didn’t specify what they would be. It could be Will Carrier (undisclosed) returning to the lineup, but it would likely be for Ryan Carpenter with both Ryan Reaves and Tomas Nosek playing well right now. 

Projected Lineups

	Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson Jakub Vrana – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie Andre Burakovsky – Lars Eller – Brett Connolly Chandler Stephenson – Jay Beagle – Devante Smith-Pelly Michal Kempny – John Carlson Dmitri Orlov – Matt Niskanen Brooks Orpik – Christian Djoos Braden Holtby
	Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith James Neal – Erik Haula – Alex Tuch Tomas Tatar – Cody Eakin – Ryan Carpenter Tomas Nosek – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt Deryk Engelland – Shea Theodore Colin Miller – Luca Sbisa Marc-Andre Fleury