WATCH LIVE: Golden Knights go for fourth straight win vs. Blackhawks

By Sean LeahyNov 27, 2018, 6:55 PM EST

NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Blackhawks with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

The defending Western Conference champion Golden Knights seem to have righted the ship with three straight wins, while the Blackhawks have dropped 11 of their last 14 games (3-8-3) over the past month and find themselves sixth in the Central Division.

Vegas is 4-1-0 since defenseman Nate Schmidt returned from a 20-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance. During that stretch, Schmidt has no points, but leads the team in ice time (21:36 per game). After a dreadful start in which Max Pacioretty tallied just four points in his first 16 games, the former Canadiens captain has started to take off with six goals and an assist in the past five games.

In the the nine games since Jeremy Colliton replaced Joel Quenneville, offense has been hard to come by. The Blackhawks are scoring 2.11 goals per game during that span and their power play is just 2-for-21.

“We wanted to buy into the system,” said forward Alex DeBrincat. “We want to have a good team. The core group, they got our attention and told us to really buy in. They were preaching: ‘Forget about the past and move on.’… it was probably a lot tougher for them to move on from that after 10, 11 years, but we’re playing a team sport and they obviously want to win, too. The past is the past.”

[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Vegas Golden Knights at Chicago Blackhawks
Where: United Center
When: Tuesday, Nov. 27, 7 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Golden Knights-Blackhawks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

BLACKHAWKS
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – John Hayden
Alex DeBrincat – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Alexandre Fortin – David Kampf – Dominik Kahun
Brendan Perlini – Dylan Strome – Marcus Kruger

Duncan Keith – Gustav Forsling
Erik Gustafsson – Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning – Brent Seabrook

Starting goalie: Corey Crawford

GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Cody Eakin – Alex Tuch
Daniel Carr – Tomas Nosek – Ryan Carpenter
William Carrier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore – Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden – Colin Miller

Starting goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury

MORE: Fleury’s shutouts earning donuts for Golden Knights fans

Evander Kane got ejected – and so did Sharks’ coach

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By James O'BrienNov 25, 2018, 2:29 AM EST

3 Comments

Things got ugly for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, and the blemishes weren’t limited to a 6-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights alone.

With frustrations clearly boiling over, Evander Kane was ejected following a heated series of events:

Kane went low in hitting Tomas Nosek with a questionable hit. As it was, it would probably be the sort of infraction that the Department of Player Safety may take an extra look at.
The 27-year-old winger really lost it, eventually being ejected from the game for “abuse of officials” and abusive language. It seemed like Kane needed to be restrained during the exchange.
He finished the night with 26 penalty minutes. While there was a high-sticking fraction not long before that, it mainly came from that outburst.
Oh yeah, head coach Peter DeBoer didn’t last much longer in that game, as he was ejected for jawing at officials less than a minute later.

Take a look at that questionable hit, via NBC Sports California:

Frustration boiling over for the Sharks pic.twitter.com/3fowpOPe6r

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) November 25, 2018

You can see some of Kane’s agitating exchange in this GIF.

Again, it wasn’t just Kane who ended up being ejected, as DeBoer also got thrown out. DeBoer’s side of the story was pretty amusing, as the Athletic’s Kevin Kurz reports.

“I didn’t even swear, I just asked him, did that feel good kicking Evander out under these circumstances?” DeBoer said. “That was enough I guess. I guess he wanted another victim.”

Ah yes, just like everyone else, DeBoer had the wherewithal to use the word “circumstances” during a moment of rage and passion. Totally normal!

DeBoer’s night ended early, in a way that felt a lot like an MLB manager throwing a fit and getting ejected from a blowout loss, almost making you wonder if it was on purpose. DeBoer spent some extra time on the Sharks’ bench before the second period even began, so it was an unusual night for San Jose’s head coach.

The #SJSharks head coach is (understandably) not happy. pic.twitter.com/DXiLNNrN5h

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) November 25, 2018

Maybe this is just one of those weeks for the Sharks. As you likely remember, the Sharks aren’t that far removed from Antoine Roussel biting Marc-Edouard Vlasic, inspiring a $5K fine and countless jokes about eating pickles.

Could Kane and/or DeBoer face a suspension or fines? The Department of Player Safety will need to consider all … circumstances.

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

WATCH LIVE: Golden Knights host Ducks on NBCSN

By James O'BrienNov 14, 2018, 10:15 PM EST

The NBCSN Wednesday night doubleheader continues with the Vegas Golden Knights hosting the Anaheim Ducks at 10:30 p.m. ET. You can watch that game online by clicking here.

Heading into 2018-19, both the Ducks (8-8-3) and Golden Knights (7-10-1) were hoping to begin the season with better records.

While their predicaments seem similar, they’ve gotten to this point thanks to playing very different hockey. The Ducks are being massively out-shot, yet John Gibson is often putting an “S” on his chest and saving the day. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights are often dominating the shot clock, yet Marc-Andre Fleury and others have gone from leaping tall buildings in a single bound to more Clark Kent-level work.

Expect a fun atmosphere in Vegas, especially since the Golden Knights often compete with the lavish pre-game entertainment by playing high-octane hockey.

[WATCH LIVE – 10:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Anaheim Ducks at Vegas Golden Knights
Where: T-Mobile Arena
When: Wednesday, November 14th, 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Ducks-Golden Knights stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

DUCKS

Rickard Rakell — Ryan Getzlaf — Pontus Aberg

Nick Ritchie — Ryan Kesler — Jakob Silfverberg

Andrew Cogliano — Adam Henrique — Ondrej Kase

Brian Gibbons — Kalle Kossila — Ben Street

Hampus Lindholm — Jacob Larsson

Andy Welinski — Josh Manson

Marcus Pettersson — Brandon Montour

Starting goalie: John Gibson

GOLDEN KNIGHTS

Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty — Cody Eakin — Alex Tuch

Tomas Nosek — Ryan Carpenter — Tomas Hyka

William Carrier — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb — Colin Miller

Shea Theodore — Deryk Engelland

Nick Holden — Jon Merrill

Starting goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

—

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

WATCH LIVE: Golden Knights visit Predators on NBCSN

AP Images

By Sean LeahyOct 30, 2018, 7:30 PM EST

NBC’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Nashville Predators at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports App by clicking here.

Vegas started slowly out of the gate losing four of their first five games, but seem to have righted the ship by going 4-1-1 in their last six games. Including this game in Nashville, six of their next seven games are on the road where they are 2-3-0 this season.

Meanwhile, the Predators won seven of their first eight games to start the season, but have now dropped two of their last three. Their rough patch could continue into November, as Nashville has a difficult upcoming schedule, including a west coast road trip

Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne has missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury. He has been practicing with the team, but has yet to be activated off IR. Rinne, who will turn 36 on Saturday, left in a win over Calgary on Oct. 19 shortly after colliding with Kevin Fiala. Predators GM David Poile said the netminder is close to returning. Juuse Saros will start on Tuesday.

The Golden Knights will start Malcolm Subban in net, which will make for a nice sub-plot as he faces off against his brother, P.K.

[WATCH LIVE – 8 P.M. ET – NBCSN]

What: Vegas Golden Knights at Nashville Predators
Where: Bridgestone Arena
When: Tuesday, October 30th, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Golden Knights-Predators stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Tomas Hyka – Erik Haula – Alex Tuch
Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – Tomas Nosek
William Carrier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb – Colin Miller
Shea Theodore – Deryk Engelland
Jon Merrill – Nick Holden

Starting goalie: Malcolm Subban

PREDATORS
Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – Viktor Arvidsson
Calle Jarnkrok – Kyle Turris – Craig Smith
Ryan Hartman – Nick Bonino – Kevin Fiala
Miikka Salomaki / Frederick Gaudreau – Colton Sissons – Zac Rinaldo / Rocco Grimaldi

Roman Josi – Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm – P.K. Subban
Matt Irwin – Yannick Weber

Starting goalie: Juuse Saros

MORE: Your 2018-19 NHL on NBC TV schedule

WATCH LIVE: Capitals, Golden Knights on Wednesday Night Hockey

By Sean LeahyOct 10, 2018, 7:30 PM EST

NBC’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues as the Washington Capitals host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday Night Hockey at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch that game online by clicking here.

The Golden Knights continue their five-game road trip Wednesday without the services of Paul Stastny. The center suffered a lower-body injury Monday in Buffalo and will miss at least the next three games. He’ll be re-evaluated after that, said head coach Gerard Gallant.

Cody Eakin, who’s yet to play this season, will enter the lineup vs. the Capitals.

While the hype around this game will be that it’s a Stanley Cup Final rematch, the Golden Knights aren’t looking into the past.

“One thing is that we have to stop talking about last year,” said forward Jonathan Marchessault. “It’s a new year now. Last year is over. It’s a new team.”

The Capitals, meanwhile, have had an interesting start to their Cup defense, winning their opener 7-0 over the Boston Bruins and then dropping a 7-6 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins the following night. Washington’s franchise record for goals through the first three games of a season is 17, set in 1988-89. The NHL record for most goals through the first three games of a season is 27, set by the Toronto Arenas in the League’s inaugural season of 1917-18; the modern-era record (since 1943-44) is 25, set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1975-76.

As Eakin returns for Vegas, Michal Kempny is expected to make his season debut for the Capitals after suffering a concussion during the preseason. Dmitrij Jaskin is also expected in for Washington after being claimed on waivers from the St. Louis Blues.

What: Vegas Golden Knights at Washington Capitals
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington D.C.
When: Wednesday, October 10th, 8 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Golden Knights-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty – Erik Haula – Tomas Nosek
Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – Oscar Lindberg
William Carrier – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Ryan Reaves