Tonight's game features the Vegas Golden Knights and the Montreal Canadiens. This game has a little extra incentive for Vegas forward Max Pacioretty and Canadien Tomas Tatar, who were traded for each other this past offseason. Pacioretty served as the captain of the Canadiens prior to the trade.

Tatar (6g, 8a) has been very good thus far in Montreal, as opposed to Pacioretty (2g, 0a) who battled through a concussion and is off to a slow start in Vegas. Tatar never really found consistency in Vegas and served as a healthy scratch on more than one occasion. He has a track record of proficient goal scoring, but Gerard Gallant and the Golden Knights were never able to get that out of the 27 year old winger. Currently, the Canadiens sit in 3rd place in the Atlantic Divison with a record of 8-5-3. Vegas remains 7th in the Pacific Division at 7-8-1.

Montreal is a team that is looking to get younger and faster. Just last night, the Canadiens and
36-year old center Tomas Plekanec parted ways after 17 years together. Drafted by the Canadiens in the third round of the 2001 entry draft, Plekanec just recently played in his 1,000th career game. Plekanec ended up expendable, due to the play of offseason acquisition Max Domi, who has exceeded expectations, with a move to the center position. Domi, a former Coyote first round pick, struggled to live up to the hype around him in Arizona prior to his arrival in Montreal. Domi and Tatar have been two bright spots for the Canadiens.

Vegas built some momentum on Thursday, on the 2nd leg of their Canadian vacation. In Ottawa, Vegas stormed out to a three goal lead, gave the lead right back, and then scored two goals to seal the game. Vegas was paced by their fourth line, chipping in the eventual game winner and insurance market in the third period. The line consisting of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, William Carrier, and fan-favorite Ryan Reaves have played quite well since the start of the 2018 season. Their puck possession, aggressive and physical forecheck, and added scoring touch have been instrumental in Vegas winning games early on this season. While the second and third lines have been struggling to find consistency and production, the fourth line has really stepped up and filled the need for depth scoring. Without their support, this Vegas team could easily be challenging Los Angeles for last place in the Pacific. The Kings have been so bad that coach John Stevens was fired last week.

Which team will prove dominant tonight in Montreal? Will the performance of either Tatar or Pacioretty have their former teams regretting the decision to trade them? Will Vegas get a much needed win before a quick turnaround tomorrow in Boston? Tune in at 4pm Pacific, on AT&T Sportsnet, to find out.

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