'All-Star-caliber' Bishop to get start for Stars at Vegas

The Dallas Stars will look to make it five wins in a row when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights tonight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Stars coach Jim Montgomery will go with the same forwards and defensemen he used in Friday's 3-2 win over San Jose at American Airlines Center, but he will be making some adjustments to his forward lines.
The top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov stays intact. Brett Ritchie will get bumped up to right wing on the second line which will have Jason Spezza at center and Devin Shore on left wing. Ritchie has scored in each of the last two games since drawing back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for several games.

"I am really happy for him and what he is doing for our team," Montgomery said. "He took it upon himself to get better, work at his game, watch other players. It's a credit to him to be able to come into the lineup and help us consecutively and consistently."
As for the other lines, Mattias Janmark will skate on a line with Radek Faksa and Tyler Pitlick and Martin Hanzal will center the fourth line with Jason Dickinson and Blake Comeau on the wings. Valeri Nichushkin will be a healthy scratch at forward.

On defense, Montgomery is expected to go with the same pairs as the last five games: Esa Lindell-Miro Heiskanen; Gavin Bayreuther-Roman Polak; Joel Hanley-Taylor Fedun. Julius Honka will be the scratch on defense.
Ben Bishop will get the start in goal tonight. He is 10-5-1 and is tied for second in the NHL with a 2.23 goals against average and is sixth with a .927 save percentage. He ranks fourth with a .885 high-danger save percentage during 5-on-5 play, according to naturalstattrick.com.
Over his last five games, the Dallas netminder is 4-0-0 with a 1.28 goals against average and .958 save percentage, stopping 137 of 143 shots.
"You see a composed goalie, always under control, seems calm," said Montgomery. "When things aren't going, you kind of see him moving around a lot in net. He's a little bit louder when things aren't going, he's not himself. That's maybe happened only twice, and that's why I think he's having an All-Star-caliber season."
The Stars (16-10-3) open a four-game road trip tonight. They have won four straight games and are 5-1-1 in their past. They enter tonight's game in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Opposition watch: Vegas Golden Knights

Vegas (16-14-1) played Saturday afternoon at Los Angeles and lost 5-1 to the Kings. It was just the second loss in the past nine games (7-2-0) for the Golden Knights who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference heading into Sunday's games.
Marc-Andre Fleury made his ninth straight start Saturday. It's not clear if Fleury will start again tonight or if Vegas will go with backup Malcolm Subban in net against the Stars.

Stat pack

Tonight's game

Who:Dallas Stars at Vegas Golden Knights
Where:T-Mobile Arena
When:8:00 p.m.
TV:Fox Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 1310-AM/96.7-FM

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Devin Shore - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Jason Dickinson - Martin Hanzal - Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell - Miro Heiskanen
Gavin Bayreuther - Roman Polak
Joel Hanley - Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Julius Honka, Valeri Nichushkin
Injured:John Klingberg (hand), Connor Carrick (foot), Marc Methot (lower body), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Jonathan Marchessault - William Karlsson - Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty - Cody Eakin - Alex Tuch
Oscar Lindberg - Ryan Carpenter - Tomas Nosek
William Carrier - Pierre Edouard Bellemare - Ryan Reaves
Brayden McNabb - Nate Schmidt
Shea Theodore - Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden - Colin Miller
Malcolm Subban
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched:Jon Merrill, Reid Duke, Brad Hunt
Injured:Paul Stasny (lower body), Erik Haula (lower body)
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.