NHL On Tap: Blues visit Golden Knights seeking third straight win

Welcome to the NHL On Tap. Three NHL.com writers will share what they are most looking forward to on the schedule each day. Today, their choices from the two games on Wednesday.

Golden Knights navigating injury issues

The Vegas Golden Knights are facing adversity early in the season after their top two scorers from last season sustained injuries. Forward Max Pacioretty is week to week with a lower-body injury and forward Mark Stone is day to day with an unspecified injury. Vegas is also missing forwards Alex Tuch (offseason shoulder surgery) and Mattias Janmark (COVID-19 protocol). There might be some good news as forwards Brett Howden (lower body), Nicolas Roy (undisclosed) and William Carrier (upper body) each has returned to practice and could play his first game of the season when the Golden Knights host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, TVAS, NHL LIVE). The Blues have scored 12 goals and won the first two games of their season-opening three-game road trip. -- Tim Campbell, staff writer

Swayman gets call again for Bruins

Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for the Bruins in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars in their season opener Saturday. The 22-year-old goalie will start against the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, NHL LIVE) with the Bruins looking for their second straight win. Swayman is 8-3-0 with a 1.45 goals-against average and .946 save percentage in 11 NHL games. He's expected to share time with Linus Ullmark, who will make his first start against the Buffalo Sabres, his former team, Friday. The Flyers are coming off a 6-1 win against the Seattle Kraken on Monday, when newcomers Derick Brassard (one goal, two assists), Ryan Ellis (one goal), Cam Atkinson (one assist) and Keith Yandle (one assist) each contributed. Forwards Joel Farabee, Travis Konecny and Claude Giroux have scored in each of Philadelphia's first two games and if two of them score on Wednesday, it would mark the first time in Flyers history that multiple players have started a season with a three-game goal streak. -- David Satriano, staff writer

Ristolainen could make debut for Flyers

Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to make his debut for the Flyers when they host the Bruins. The right-shot defenseman, acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Robert Hagg, a first-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (forward Isak Rosen) and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, missed the first two games of the season with an upper-body injury. He could be paired with Travis Sanheim. Goalie Martin Jones, who signed a one-year contract on July 28, also is expected to make his Flyers debut after Carter Hart was 1-0-1 with a 2.43 GAA and .921 save percentage in the first two games. -- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer

Wednesday schedule

Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT, SN1, NHL LIVE)
Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk is expected to play his 800th NHL regular-season game. He scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in eight games against the Bruins last season. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy is two assists away from 100 in the NHL.
St. Louis Blues at Vegas Golden Knights, 10 p.m. ET (TNT, TVAS, NHL LIVE)
The Blues face the Golden Knights after winning 5-3 at the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday and 7-4 at the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou and defenseman Justin Faulk each had multiple-point games in the first two and can become the sixth and seventh players in Blues history with multiple-point games in three or more games to open a season. The Golden Knights were 6-1-1 against the Blues last season, when the teams played in the Honda West Division. Vegas forward Nolan Patrick is expected to play his 200th NHL game.