{"id":476051,"date":"2026-09-26T03:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/476051\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T03:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T03:34:09","slug":"vegas-golden-knights-host-nhl-preseason-finale-vs-san-jose-sharks-on-saturday-golden-knights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/476051\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegas Golden Knights host NHL preseason finale vs San Jose Sharks on Saturday | Golden Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"

One more to go, and the games will count for real for the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Knights are expected to go with as close to their NHL lineup in their preseason finale Saturday against the San Jose Sharks at T-Mobile Arena.<\/p>\n

Thus will begin the fun of another season and eliminate all the groaning and complaining that comes with exhibition hockey.<\/p>\n

Coach Ryan Craig stressed execution heading into the fourth and final preseason game. It lacked in the first period Thursday, given it was the first game for most of the players<\/a> in three months.<\/p>\n

That translates to attention to detail, Craig said. Knowing when to get sticks on the ice. Improving execution to get out of those bad situations.<\/p>\n

He felt as Thursday went on, the Knights got better. That showed in the final 40 minutes, notably with the third-period rally to force overtime that led to a 5-4 win<\/a> over the Utah Mammoth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had really good intentions on our support,\u201d Craig said. \u201cNow it\u2019s just a matter of upping the execution, which will come as it being game two (for the veterans).\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knights dressed close to a full lineup Thursday. The only difference was Jonas R\u00f8ndbjerg getting one more look on the fourth line to determine who on the bubble will make the opening night roster.<\/p>\n

Finalizing rosters<\/p>\n

Craig said the Knights will have \u201cprobably close to a full lineup\u201d against San Jose. That would include Marc Gatcomb getting his third preseason game, this time skating with Braeden Bowman and center Nic Dowd on the fourth line.<\/p>\n

The newcomer from the New York Islanders has shown good speed on the forecheck and the willingness to throw his body around. Those are traits the Knights are looking for in a fourth liner.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarc\u2019s done a great job,\u201d Craig said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that\u2019s earned an opportunity, for sure. Somebody we\u2019ve liked when we brought in. He\u2019s come in and played as advertised. What he can bring us is some of that energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

This could be as close to a regular-season dress rehearsal as can be. The Sharks are expected to ice near a full lineup. That includes 20-year-old Macklin Celebrini, who was named the Sharks\u2019 youngest captain in team history Friday.<\/p>\n

San Jose beat the Anaheim Ducks\u2019 AHL-heavy team 10-0 at SAP Center on Thursday.<\/p>\n

It could be a wake-up call for both teams \u2014 especially the Knights with them opening the season Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the first game in a long time, so timing of things, reading off each other,\u201d forward Brett Howden said. \u201cThere\u2019s things with the puck. You haven\u2019t done it in awhile. It\u2019s timing and reacting. It\u2019ll get better as time goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

One more look for the kid<\/p>\n

It could also be the final look at top prospect Trevor Connelly before a decision is made on him making the NHL roster.<\/p>\n

Connelly played 12 minutes, 32 seconds and was a plus-1 in his first game at T-Mobile Arena. He didn\u2019t get on the scoreboard sheet, but the 20-year-old was noticeable every time he touched the ice.<\/p>\n

He took some shifts in the second period with center Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone. Stone set up Connelly for a breakaway attempt, but he missed wide.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there was a little bit of nerves. (I had) never played in that rink before,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cLooking around in warmups, I was like, \u2018this is awesome. It\u2019s so cool.\u2019 I felt comfortable and I felt like I had a good game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eichel felt the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrevor was really noticeable,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was great to see that for him. It\u2019s his first crack at it. Really happy for him. I thought he played great. He\u2019s going to be a big part of this group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @DannyWebster21<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n

Up next<\/p>\n

Who: Sharks at Golden Knights<\/p>\n

When: 7 p.m. Saturday<\/p>\n

Where: T-Mobile Arena<\/p>\n

TV: KMCC-34<\/p>\n

Radio: KVGS 107.9 FM<\/p>\n

Streaming: KnightTime+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One more to go, and the games will count for real for the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-476051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}