GAME DAY: Golden Knights continue preseason at Avalanche
DENVER — Goaltender Garret Sparks is expected to make his debut Tuesday when the Golden Knights face Colorado in a preseason game at Pepsi Center.
Opening faceoff is 6 p.m. Pacific time, and the game will be televised on KTNV-13.
“We liked Sunday a lot, so hopefully the same thing will happen tonight,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “We killed too many penalties last game, so a little bit more 5-on-5 (would be good). You like to work a little bit your PP, your PK. We don’t need those 5-on-3s. We can stay from that.”
Sparks, 26, was acquired from Toronto in a July trade and hopes to challenge Malcolm Subban for the job as Marc-Andre Fleury’s backup.
He was the No. 2 for the Maple Leafs last season and was off to a promising start until he suffered a concussion in January. Sparks went 2-7-0 with a .899 save percentage in his final 10 appearances and was effectively exiled after he criticized his teammates’ lack of emotion in a 6-2 loss to Ottawa on March 16.
The Knights rolled to a 6-2 victory over Arizona in their preseason opener Sunday, as left wing Max Pacioretty finished with hat trick as part of his four-point night.
The Knights killed all seven Arizona power plays.
Colorado, which lost to San Jose in the Western Conference semifinals, is playing its preseason opener. Coach Jared Bednar told the media Monday he expects to ice a young team.
“It is rewarding guys for coming to camp in good condition, for playing well in rookie camp,” Bednar said. “I think there are some guys that have earned the opportunity coming into camp here to get a look in the exhibition games and get a taste for it, some draft picks. Same goes for some of the guys coming in on the tryouts.”
Golden Knights projected lineup
Forwards: Valentin Zykov, Nicolas Roy, Tyrell Goulbourne, William Carrier, Reid Duke, Jake Leschyshyn, Keegan Kolesar, Ben Jones, Lucas Elvenes, Brandon Pirri, Alex Tuch, Tomas Nosek.
Defense: Zach Whitecloud, Brett Lernout, Nic Hague, Jon Merrill, Dylan Coghlan, Nate Schmidt.
Goaltenders: Garret Sparks, Dylan Ferguson
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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.