The Vegas Golden Knights were without Max Pacioretty, Tomas Nosek, and Ryan Reaves for their Game Six loss to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and will likely be without at least Reaves for a crucial Game Seven on Friday after he and rookie Peyton Krebs landed on the league’s COVID Protocol list. Pacioretty and Nosek currently remain “game-time decisions”. Vegas called upon young Cody Glass to help fill the void on Wednesday and it was expected that he would remain in the lineup for as long as necessary.
Well, that might not be the case after all. Vegas has announced this evening that Glass has been demoted to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights in order to take part in their Pacific Division Final match-up. While this is a pivotal game for Henderson, down 1-0 in a best-of-three series, the Knights would not be prioritizing their farm team’s success over their own. The move indicates that Glass will not be in the lineup for Vegas on Friday, as the team would not put him on short rest if they had another choice.
How will Vegas fill the gap up front then if Reaves, Pacioretty, and Nosek are unable to go? Barring a recall of offset Glass’ reassignment, the team is actually without a healthy extra forward on the roster. This could imply that the Knights expect at least one of the injured trio to be available. The team could also employ a seven-defenseman lineup or could play defender Dylan Coghlan up front, as they have previously experimented with. Whatever the decision, the pressure is on head coach Peter DeBoer to field the right lineup to get a win or else risk another first-round upset this season. The first call that he has made is that he feels his options are all better than the 2017 No. 6 overall pick. Will it pay off?