Flyers at Golden Knights preview

FLYERS (0-0-0) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (0-0-0)
10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, SN360, SN1, TVAS, NBCSP, NHL.TV

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The Game

Max Pacioretty will play his first game for the Vegas Golden Knights when they face the Philadelphia Flyers at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday in the season opener for each team.
The forward was acquired in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens on Sept. 9 and signed a four-year, $28 million contract extension (average annual value $7 million) the next day. Pacioretty played the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens.
The Golden Knights, beginning their second NHL season, will play for the first time since losing the Stanley Cup Final in five games to the Washington Capitals.
Forward James van Riemsdyk will play his first game with the Flyers since 2011-12. Van Riemsdyk, the No. 2 pick by Philadelphia in the 2007 NHL Draft, signed a five-year, $35 million contract (AAV $7 million) with the Flyers on July 1 after playing the past six seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Players to watch

Flyers center Sean Couturier scored an NHL career-high 76 points (31 goals, 45 assists) last season and was a finalist for the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward in the NHL.
Golden Knights center Paul Stastny also will make his Vegas debut. He signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract (AAV $6.5 million) on July 1 after playing with the St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets last season.

They said it

"We know what kind of a team they are. They work, they play fast, they play tenacious, they play hard so you have to respect that out of your opponent, but at the same time it's all about us." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol
"It's a different year. We'll see what happens. We hope to get off to a great start. That was real key last year. We felt we were consistent all year long." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Nolan Patrick -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Mikhail Vorobyev -- Wayne Simmonds
Scott Laughton -- Jori Lehtera -- Michael Raffl
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Ivan Provorov
Andrew MacDonald -- Robert Hagg
Travis Sanheim -- Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Anthony Stolarz
Scratched:Christian Folin, Jordan Weal, Dale Weise, Calvin Pickard
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Samuel Morin (knee), Alex Lyon (lower body), Corban Knight (upper body), Pascal Laberge (hip)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Erik Haula
Tomas Nosek -- Oscar Lindberg -- Ryan Carpenter
William Carrier -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Ryan Reaves
Shea Theodore -- Deryk Engelland
Colin Miller -- Brayden McNabb
Nick Holden -- Jon Merrill
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched: Brad Hunt, Jake Bischoff, Nate Schmidt (suspension)
Injured:Alex Tuch (lower body), Cody Eakin (lower body)

Status report

Pickard was claimed off waivers by Philadelphia from Toronto on Tuesday. … Tuch and Eakin each is week to week.

Stat pack

Philadelphia has won its past two season openers, each against a Pacific Division team (Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks). … Voracek needs two assists for 400 in the NHL. … Fleury can tie an NHL record with his 10th win in a season opener (Martin Brodeur and Curtis Joseph).