Vegas Golden Knights News

Hill stopped 24 of 26 shots (.923 SV%) for his third-straight win in his last start vs. Dallas and will be between the pipes Saturday as Vegas takes on Chicago. The 27-year-old has been sensational to start the 2023-24 season, with his 3-0-0- record, 1.31 GAA and .951 SV%. He takes on the Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks, who have lost three of their last four contests and are 27th in the NHL in goals per game (2.2).

Schmid will make his second start of the season after surrendering three goals on 30 shots in last Friday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Coyotes. The 23-year-old netminder was fantastic down the stretch for the Devils last season, recording a .922 SV% and a 2.13 GAA in 18 appearances. He was even able to wrestle some starts away from starter Vitek Vanecek in the post-season, and could continue to see his usage grow if he's able to maintain the excellent form he's shown to date.

Hart is coming off his best performance of the young season in which he recorded a 25-save shutout to lead his Flyers to a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. In three games this year, Hart has 2.35 GAA and .921 SV% but will be hard-pressed to continue his early-season success tonight as the Flyers are +177 home underdogs against Connor McDavid and the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers. Working in his favour, Hart performed admirably in his two games against the Oilers last season (1-1-0), recording a 1.96 GAA and .934 SV%.

No further details have been given in terms of the nature or the expected timeline of the injury, but the Capitals will miss the depth scoring and adept penalty-killing Dowd provides. The 33-year-old centreman tallied 13 goals and 12 assists in 65 games for the Capitals last season, and has managed to score double-digit goals in three straight seasons despite being limited to a fourth-line role. Anthony Mantha will draw back into the lineup in place of Dowd.

Hart struggled in his previous start after allowing five goals on 31 shots (.839 SV%) in a loss to Ottawa but will take the crease Tuesday vs. Vancouver. The 25-year-old netminder has been up and down in his two starts so far this season, with a 1-1-0 record, 3.53 GAA and .891 SV%. He takes on the undefeated Vancouver Canucks (2-0-0), who rank first in the NHL in goals per game (6.0) after beating up on Edmonton in both of their games.

After alternating between Hill and Logan Thompson in their first two games, the Golden Knights will turn to Hill for his second consecutive start. Hill has picked up where he left off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, recording a stellar 1.01 GAA and .964 SV% in two starts this season (2-0-0). The defending Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights have been remarkable as a whole, outscoring opponents 12-3 en route to a 3-0-0 start to the season. Tonight, however, they are slight +104 road underdogs in a rematch against the team they defeated in the Western Conference Finals, the Dallas Stars. The Stars are expected to welcome star center Roope Hintz into the lineup for his season debut.

Howden has served his suspension for two-games for an illegal check to the head on Seattle's Brandon Tanev and will return to Vegas' lineup Tuesday vs. Dallas. The 25-year-old forward had an assist, 15 PIMs and a SOG through 16 shifts and 11:57 TOI in his only game played this season. He is expected to return to his role on Vegas' fourth line alongside Nicolas Roy and Keegan Kolesar.

Korczak was the No.41 overall pick in 2019 and has appeared in just 11 career NHL games since being drafted. He spent most of last season in Henderson (AHL), where he tallied 14 points (4G / 10A) in 50 games. Korczak will replace Alex Pietrangelo, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Pietrangelo was high high by a pick late in Thursday's win in San Jose. Pietrangelo will be held out of the lineup in Anaheim but is considered day-to-day and isn't expected to be sidelined long-term. Pietrbngelo's absence is always detrimental, but it hurts even more when the Golden Knights are already without Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud on the blueline. Kaedan Korczak will draw into the lineup for Pietrangelo.

Hart stopped 31 of 33 shots in the Flyers' opening night win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday. It was a strong start to the season for Hart, who was 22-23-10 with a 2.94 GAA and .907 SV% a season ago. This afternoon, he'll face a Senators team that he succeeded against last season, going 1-1-0 while stopping 56 of the 60 shots (.933 SV%) that he faced.

Schmid was 9-5-2 with a .922 SV% and a 2.13 GAA in 2022-23 and will get his first start of the 2022-23 season Friday vs. Arizona. The 23-year-old netminder is only making his 19th career regular-season start but will be looking to build off his impressive postseason run last year, which saw him post a .921 SV% and 2.35 GAA in nine games played. He draws a great opening matchup against Arizona, who finished 2022-23 last in the NHL in shots per game (25.8) and 28th in goals for (225)

Rondbjerg was recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) Thursday ahead of Vegas' game vs. San Jose due to the two game suspension to Brett Howden and the injury to William Carrier (upper body). The 24-year-old forward appeared in 13 games in 2022-23 for Vegas and failed to pick up a goal while collecting an assist, four PIMs and a -5 plus/minus. He is expected to line up on the Golden Knights' fourth line alongside Keegan Kolesar and Nicholas Roy.

Hart will begin his sixth NHL season as the starter for the Philadelphia Flyers in their season-opening matchup against the Blue Jackets. In 55 games last season (22-23-10), Hart posted a respectable 2.94 GAA and .907 SV% for a struggling Flyers team that ranked 26th last season (31-38-13). The Flyers will hope to get off to a good start against a Blue Jackets team that ranked third-worst offensively last season, averaging only 2.60 goals per game. Hart is the bonafide starting goalie in Philadelphia and should see plenty of action this season.

The hit occurred midway through the third period of Tuesday's season opener and Howden received a match penalty on the play. Tanev did not return to the game due to what the Kraken are calling an upper-body injury. Prior to his ejection, Howden had played 11:57 and collected an assist while skating alongside Mark Stone and Chandler Stephenson. Mike Amadio and Paul Cotter are the most likely candidates to be prompoted to Vegas' second line in Howden's absence.

Hill was awarded a two-year, $9.8 million contract extension by Vegas in the offseason and will take the crease in their opening matchup of the 2023-24 campaign. The 27-year-old was 16-7-1 with a .915 SV% and a 2.50 GAA in 27 games played in 2022-23 before leading the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup. He draws the tough task of the Seattle Kraken who were fourth in the NHL in GF in 2022-23 (289) and 20th in SOG/GP (30.5).