Monday should be emotional for the Golden Knights.
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is slated to play in his 1,000th NHL game against the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.
Not everyone on the team is in a celebratory mood, however. A bug is working its way through the locker room.
Goaltender Logan Thompson will be unavailable Monday with an illness. Goaltender Adin Hill will make his third straight start and Jiri Patera will serve as the team’s backup after being called up from Henderson.
Hill has been exceptional since returning from a lower-body injury Jan. 23. He’s won all four of his starts and stopped 126 of the 133 shots he’s faced for a .947 save percentage. Coach Bruce Cassidy said Hill’s presence has boosted the entire team.
“That’s a position that can influence the team more than other positions, just because the importance of it,” Cassidy said. “So to me, yes. You can see it. Guys probably relax a little knowing he’s back there and can bail us out. Logan does it too, but (Hill) is at the top of his game. He’s just in a zone when he’s in there. It happened in the playoffs last year and it’s happening now.”
The Knights (31-15-6) are 7-1-1 over their past nine games. They’ll look to keep it going against Minnesota (23-23-5), which is not expected to start former Knights star Marc-Andre Fleury in net.
Filip Gustavsson was the first goalie off the ice at Monday’s morning skate and is expected to get the nod instead.
The evening will be about Pietrangelo anyways. Several Knights players who attended Monday’s optional morning skate wore shirts honoring the veteran. The team is also expected to conduct a ceremony for Pietrangelo before puck drop.
“I’m happy for him,” Cassidy said. “He’s a very popular teammate. Some of the things you don’t see is a guy like him that is the first guy to go to a young teammate who is struggling and talk to him. So not only is a good player on the ice who takes care of business, plays his 23 minutes on against good players, but he takes care of his teammates.”
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.