Golden Knights at Stars preview

GOLDEN KNIGHTS (0-0-0) at STARS (0-0-0)
8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN360, TVA Sports, FS-SW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV

Golden Knights forward James Neal will be in the lineup; he missed the preseason after breaking his hand playing for the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Final.
"From the expansion draft to becoming part of this organization to having a chance to play in the first game is really cool," Neal said. "I'm excited about being able to play tonight."
It's also a big night for Stars coach Ken Hitchcock, who will begin his second stint with Dallas, which he led to the Stanley Cup in 1999. Hitchcock ranks fourth in NHL history with 781 career wins, one shy of tying Al Arbour for third place on the league's all-time list.
Right wing Alexander Radulov, center Martin Hanzal, defenseman Marc Methot and goaltender Ben Bishop each will make his Stars debut.

Players to watch

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will start for the Golden Knights in the first game of his NHL career playing for someone other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Radulov will play his first game with the Stars, on a line with left wing Jamie Benn and center Tyler Seguin. Radulov had 54 points (18 goals, 36 assists) in 76 games last season with the Montreal Canadiens.

They said it

"We want to come out and make the city proud. We've got to come out and work as a team and help that process a little bit. The first thought is with them and the city and we'll be thinking about them tonight." -- Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland, on playing for the victims of the recent shooting in Las Vegas
"We haven't really played a full game together with a full roster, so tonight's the first one. And there is a lot of experience in this room, so I think we'll be able to jell pretty quick. It will be fun, first game as a Dallas Star and the home opener." -- Stars goaltender Ben Bishop

Golden Knights projected lineup

Reilly Smith -- Jonathan Marchessault -- Oscar Lindberg
David Perron -- Cody Eakin -- James Neal
William Karlsson -- Erik Haula -- Brendan Leipsic
Tomas Nosek -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- William Carrier
Brayden McNabb -- Deryk Engelland
Colin Miller -- Jason Garrison
Luca Sbisa -- Nate Schmidt
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban
Scratched:Griffin Reinhart, Jon Merrill, Brad Hunt
Injured:None

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Spezza -- Brett Ritchie
Devin Shore -- Martin Hanzal -- Tyler Pitlick
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Gemel Smith
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Marc Methot -- Jamie Oleksiak
Dan Hamhuis -- Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched:Adam Cracknell, Greg Pateryn, Julius Honka
Injured:None

Status report

Goaltender Calvin Pickard cleared waivers Friday, and the Golden Knights assigned him to Chicago of the American Hockey League. Center Vadim Shipachyov and defenseman Shea Theodore each remain assigned to the AHL, with Vegas trying to maneuver its roster, which has nine defensemen. … Dallas held an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Expansion teams are 6-13-3 in NHL debuts and 2-8-2 when opening on the road. … Dallas is 3-1-1 in its past five openers and 5-1-3 in its past nine.