Golden Knights at Senators preview

DeBoer, who replaced the fired Gerard Gallant on Wednesday, has a record of 415-329-111 in 13 seasons as an NHL coach; he was in his fifth season as coach of the San Jose Sharks when he was fired on Dec. 11.

The Golden Knights will try to avoid a season-long five-game losing streak following a four-game winning streak. 

Forward Mark Stone will return to Ottawa for the first time since being acquired by Vegas in a trade with the Senators on Feb. 25, 2019. Stone had 311 points (123 goals, 188 assists) in 366 games with Ottawa.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury could start for the Golden Knights; he is one win from tying Henrik Lundqvist (458) for fifth place on the NHL all-time list. Lundqvist is not scheduled to start for the New York Rangers against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

The Senators are on a season-long eight-game winless streak (0-4-4) after going 5-2-3 in their previous 10. Goalie Craig Anderson will make his first start for Ottawa since Jan. 7; he has backed up rookie Marcus Hogberg the past three games.

Players to watch

Golden Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 11 games against Ottawa.

Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot has six points (two goals, four assists) in six games against Vegas.

They said it

"I'm excited. This is my kind of team. These are my kind of guys. They play hard, they play fast, they play heavy." -- Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer

"This is one of the teams that can for sure win the Stanley Cup. I think they're big, they're strong, they're built for the playoffs, they have some big-time scoring, they're tough. So, this is a great test for us, for our young group to see what kind of a finished product looks like. And we're going to bang right with them." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on facing Vegas

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty -- Chandler Stephenson -- Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek -- Paul Stastny -- Alex Tuch

William Carrier -- Cody Eakin -- Ryan Reaves

Brayden McNabb -- Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden -- Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague -- Deryk Engelland

Marc-Andre Fleury

Malcolm Subban

Scratched: Jon Merrill, Nicolas Roy

Injured: Cody Glass (lower body)

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Connor Brown

Anthony Duclair -- Chris Tierney -- Drake Batherson

Filip Chlapik -- Colin White -- Tyler Ennis

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Artem Anisimov -- Scott Sabourin

Thomas Chabot -- Ron Hainsey

Mark Borowiecki -- Nikita Zaitsev

Mike Reilly -- Dylan DeMelo

Craig Anderson

Marcus Hogberg

Scratched: Mikkel Boedker, Cody Goloubef, Rudolfs Balcers

Injured: Anders Nilsson (concussion), Nick Paul (ankle)

Status report

The Golden Knights recalled Roy, a center, from Chicago of the American Hockey League; he will not play. … Duclair left practice in discomfort Wednesday but will be in the lineup.

Stat pack

Stastny has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in 14 games against Ottawa. … The Senators are last in the NHL on the power play at 11.3 percent.