VGK tries to break out of its slump at home Thursday night against the red-hot Florida Panthers. It's a rematch of last Spring's Stanley Cup Final and also a rematch of last month's slugfest in South Florida won by the Panthers 4-2 over VGK. The Golden Knights have lost five of six, including Monday's shutout loss to the Kracken in the Winter Classic. Florida comes into Las Vegas with a five-game win streak.
Thursday Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy told the media that veteran center William Karlsson will be out of the lineup through the weekend with a lower body injury. Cassidy said it would cause a domino effect with the lineup. A couple of changes, he said, would Mark Stone on the second line and Jonathan Marchessault will move up to the top line for the Florida game.
Cassidy said Thursday's rematch could be a "fairly intense game" vs the Palnthers. He said he expects a physical game between two clubs "that play better when the temperature goes up." We could see a carryover from the first meeting this season, in which the game ended with six misconduct penalties and VGK Captain Mark Stone embroiled in front of the Florida bench, while yelling at players.
VGK will need a better start than it had in Florida. The Panthers took 15 of the first 16 shots on goal.
Sam Reinhart leads the Florida attack with 45 points already, including 24 goals. Aleksander Barkov has 39 points and leads his team in +/- with +21.