Golden Knights at Stars preview
Vegas trying to split back-to-back-games; Dallas goes for fourth straight win
by Josh Clark / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
GOLDEN KNIGHTS (16-13-5) at STARS (18-11-3)
8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, FS-SW, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV
The Game
The Dallas Stars will try to win their fourth consecutive game when they play the Vegas Golden Knights at American Airlines Center on Friday.
Goalie Ben Bishop is expected to make his fourth start in a row for Dallas, which has outscored its opponents 8-3 in the past three games after a four-game winless streak (0-3-1). Bishop is 9-1-1 with a 1.66 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in his past 12 games. That includes 26 saves in a 2-0 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in Rick Bowness' first game as coach.
The Golden Knights will play for the second consecutive day; they lost 4-2 against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. They are 1-2-1 in their past four games.
Players to watch
Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith has five points (one goal, four assists) in the past five games.
Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past four games.
They said it
"We were loose in the second period and that's what cost us the hockey game. It was a good hockey game with two good teams playing against each other. We played an excellent first period and did a lot of things right. In the second period we turned pucks over and gave them odd-man rushes. You're not going to beat a team like that." -- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant on the loss against St. Louis
"If we can play against them tonight for 60 minutes like we did in the first and third [against Vegas on Nov. 25] where we didn't give up much and put a lot of pressure on them in their zone, that's how we want to play." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness
Golden Knights projected lineup
Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone
Valentin Zykov -- Paul Stastny -- Alex Tuch
William Carrier -- Tomas Nosek -- Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt
Jon Merrill -- Shea Theodore
Nick Holden -- Deryk Engelland
Malcolm Subban
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Nicolas Hague
Injured: Cody Glass (upper body), Cody Eakin (upper body)
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn -- Mattias Janmark -- Tyler Seguin
Alexander Radulov -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Denis Gurianov -- Jason Dickinson -- Corey Perry
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera -- Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Justin Dowling, Taylor Fedun
Injured: Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)
Status report
The Golden Knights did not have a morning skate. … The Stars held an optional morning skate.
Stat pack
Marchessault needs one goal for 100 in the NHL. … Bishop has allowed two goals or fewer in six straight starts. … The Stars have won 10 of their past 11 home games (10-1-0).