Sabres at Golden Knights preview

SABRES (1-4-1) at GOLDEN KNIGHTS (4-1-0)
10 p.m. ET; SN360, ATTSN-RM, MSG-B, NHL.TV

Vegas (4-1-0) is the first team in the NHL's expansion era to win four of its first five games in its inaugural season, and the third team in League history to do so; the 1917-18 Montreal Canadiens and 1926-27 New York Rangers each started 4-1-0. The Golden Knights can join those Canadiens as the only teams to start 5-1-0 in their history.
Those three teams and the 1967-68 Los Angeles Kings are the only four in NHL history to have at least eight points through the first five games in their inaugural season (the Kings had three wins and two ties).
Buffalo forward Kyle Okposo will return to the lineup after missing the past two games with an illness.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Evander Kane has seven points (four goals, three assists) this season but one assist in his past three.
Golden Knights forward William Carrier faces his former team for the first time since being selected by Vegas in the NHL Expansion Draft on June 21. Carrier had eight points (five goals, three assists) in 41 games for Buffalo last season.

They said it

"Basically, sitting in a hotel room for 2 1/2 straight days is not good stuff. It's good to feel like a human being again." -- Sabres forward Kyle Okposo
"[Sabres forward Jack Eichel] skill level and talent level is unbelievable. He's a great player, and he's a guy who's going to be a dangerous player for many years."-- Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant

Sabres projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville
Sam Reinhart -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Kyle Okposo
Benoit Pouliot -- Johan Larsson -- Justin Bailey
Jordan Nolan -- Zemgus Girgensons -- Matt Moulson
Marco Scandella -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Nathan Beaulieu -- Matt Tennyson
Josh Gorges -- Jake McCabe
Chad Johnson
Robin Lehner
Scratched: Victor Antipin, Matt Moulson
Injured:Justin Falk (lower body), Zach Bogosian (lower body), Evan Rodrigues (hand), Jacob Josefson (lower body)

Golden Knights projected lineup

David Perron -- Cody Eakin -- James Neal
Brendan Leipsic -- Vadim Shipachyov -- Alex Tuch
Oscar Lindberg -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith
William Carrier -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Tomas Nosek
Luca Sbisa -- Nate Schmidt
Colin Miller -- Brad Hunt
Deryk Engelland -- Jon Merrill
Malcolm Subban
Maxime Lagace
Scratched:Jason Garrison, Brayden McNabb, Griffin Reinhart
Injured:Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), Erik Haula (lower body), Clayton Stoner (lower body)

Status report

Josefson is day to day. ... Merrill and Hunt will start for the second straight game in place of Garrison and McNabb, who are healthy scratches.

Stat pack

Neal did not score for the first time this season Sunday in a 3-1 home win against the Boston Bruins. With six goals, he is tied for third in the League with Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad … Eichel (two goals, five assists) and Pominville (four goals, three assists) each has seven points like Kane. The Sabres are 14-2-1 in the first game against teams that joined the League via expansion after 1970.