Avalanche at Golden Knights preview

AVALANCHE (5-4-0) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (7-1-0)
6 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, ATTSN-RM, ALT, NHL.TV

Vegas, which has won seven of its first eight games, can become the third team with a five-game winning streak during its inaugural season, joining the 1926-27 New York Rangers and 1979-80 Edmonton Oilers.
Golden Knights forward Erik Haula was activated from injured reserve. He had missed the previous four games because of a lower-body injury.
After a 4-1-0 start, the Avalanche are 1-3-0 in their past four games. They ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Defenseman Patrik Nemeth (lower body) is expected to return to the lineup after not playing against the Stars.

Players to watch

Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie has six points (one goal, five assists) during a six-point game streak.
Vegas goaltender Oscar Dansk is expected to make his second straight start. He made 29 saves in a 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, and is 2-0-0 with a 2.43 goals-against average in two games.

They said it

"Every team you play against is going to be good, is going to give you a tough matchup. I don't think there is any underestimating them. They are a hard-working team." -- Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, on the Golden Knights
"We were, from the start of camp, 25 guys who really didn't know each other. So we had to make an effort to learn where the guys are from, and you develop a connection because of that. I think that we are eager to show how good we can play and how good we are as a team." -- Golden Knights forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare

Avalanche projected lineup

Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Gabriel Landeskog -- Matt Duchene -- Nail Yakupov
Matt Nieto -- Alex Kerfoot -- A.J. Greer
Gabriel Bourque -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Mark Barberio -- Anton Lindholm
Semyon Varlamov
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched: Andrei Mironov
Injured:J.T. Compher (broken thumb), Tyson Jost (lower body), Colin Wilson (undisclosed)

Golden Knights projected lineup

David Perron -- Cody Eakin -- James Neal
Erik Haula -- Oscar Lindberg -- Alex Tuch
Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
William Carrier -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Tomas Nosek
Luca Sbisa -- Nate Schmidt
Colin Miller -- Brad Hunt
Deryk Engelland -- Brayden McNabb
Oscar Dansk
Maxime Lagace
Scratched:Jason Garrison, Jon Merrill, Brendan Leipsic
Injured:Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Malcolm Subban (lower body), Clayton Stoner (lower body)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. … Garrison was placed on waivers. If he goes unclaimed he will be assigned to Chicago of the American Hockey League. Defenseman Griffin Reinhardt was sent to Chicago on a conditioning assignment. Marchessault, who returned Tuesday after missing three games because of a lower-body injury, is expected to start on the third line with Karlsson and Smith for the second straight game.

Stat pack

Varlamov is eighth in the NHL (minimum five games) with a 2.34 goals-against average. Johnson is sixth in the League in time on ice per game at 26:15 and is plus-5. … Smith has five points (two goals, three assists) in the past three games.