One word has come up over and over again as the Golden Knights prepare for their second game of the regular season.
Normal.
So much of the buildup to the opener, which featured a Stanley Cup champions banner-raising ceremony, took the Knights out of their normal routine. In a good way. There was a ring ceremony Sunday, an appearance on “Monday Night Football” and a gold carpet they had to walk on their way to Tuesday’s 4-1 win against Seattle at T-Mobile Arena.
Thursday’s contest at 7:30 p.m. against the San Jose Sharks won’t feature any of the same pomp and circumstance. The Knights can get back to playing hockey and try to start a season 2-0 for the fifth time in seven years.
“I think there was a lot of outside noise in the first game,” left wing wing Paul Cotter said. “Good outside noise, right? Gold carpet’s pretty cool. It’s always cool to get dressed up, see the fans, see how much support we have. Banner-raising. It takes away from your normal routine, I guess is the easiest way to put it. Now it’s pretty mainstream with normal routine, back on the road, getting it going again. I think it’s good that we’re going to have our routine from here on out.”
The Knights’ first crack at a typical game day comes against the Sharks, the Pacific Division rival they’ve dominated, compiling a 20-2-5 record the past six years.
They’re also 10-0-3 in SAP Center, which is their fourth-best record in any building.
The Sharks don’t seem likely to flip the script this season. They finished with the fourth-fewest points in the NHL last year and traded reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh over the summer. San Jose is a clear candidate for the 2024 No. 1 overall pick.
The Knights won’t be at full strength for Thursday’s game, however. Left wing William Carrier and defensemen Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud are out with upper-body injuries. Left wing Brett Howden was suspended two games Wednesday for an “illegal check to the head” on Seattle’s Brandon Tanev in the Knights’ opener.
That means some new bodies will have to jump in the lineup. Left wings Pavel Dorofeyev and Jonas Rondbjerg are expected to play on the third and fourth lines, respectively. Cotter should bump up to the second.
The Knights will also have a new face in net after Adin Hill won Tuesday. Goaltender Logan Thompson is expected to start for the first time since March 23 in Calgary. The 26-year-old saw his second half of the season derailed last year with lower-body injuries, so the team is eager to see him back in action.
“He needs to get in there,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s worked hard in camp. I think he’s looked good. He’s healthy. He’s moving well. He’s got to play, right? He’s got to play, get back in there.”
Thompson is expected to face San Jose’s Kaapo Kahkonen, who is 2-1 with a .945 save percentage in three starts against the Knights.
It should be a fun fight between teams that have shared a lot of bad blood over the years. For the Knights, it’ll also represent a change of pace from the hoopla of the past few days.
“Turn the page, new season,” center William Karlsson said. “Definitely back to normal.”
Knights vs. Sharks (7:30 p.m.)
TV: KMCC-34/KnightTime+
Radio: KKGK (98.9 FM, 1340 AM)
Line: Knights -250, total 6½
Knights’ projected lineup:
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Cotter — Chandler Stephenson — Mark Stone
Pavel Dorofeyev — William Karlsson — Michael Amadio
Jonas Rondbjerg — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Nic Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Ben Hutton — Brayden Pachal
Logan Thompson
Sharks projected lineup:
Mike Hoffman — Tomas Hertl — Filip Zadina
William Eklund — Mikael Granlund — Luke Kunin
Alexander Barabanov — Thomas Bordeleau — Anthony Duclair
Givani Smith — Nico Sturm — Kevin Labanc
Mario Ferraro — Kyle Burroughs
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Matt Benning
Henry Thrun — Jan Rutta
Kaapo Kahkonen
Contact Ben Gotz at [email protected]. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.
