Detroit Red Wings vs. Vegas Golden Knights: 5 players to watch

The Vegas Golden Knights visit Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night to face the Detroit Red Wings. Here are five key players to watch.

#5 Evgeny Svechnikov

The 21-year-old Russian forward steps in for Frans Nielsen who is out with an upper-body injury. This is going to be another great opportunity to see one of the Red Wings top prospects.

He has 17 points in his last 25 games in the American Hockey League, which made his call up to the Wings a good choice. Hopefully, he can pick up a few points during his time with the Red Wings.

#4 David Perron

With Reilly Smith out, Perron will have to one of the players that will have to help lead the Golden Knights.

He has three points in his last two games to lead the way for Vegas and is one of their top playmakers.

#3 Marc-Andre Fleury

The Golden Knights goaltender has been fantastic this season and has proved to be perhaps the best acquisition the new franchise made. Fleury has been a common opponent for the Wings over the years since his days in Pittsburgh, which will make his first game at Little Caesars Arena one to watch.

In his last four starts, he has lost three, Fleury could use a strong performance in net against a Red Wings team that is struggling.

#2 Anthony Mantha

Mantha had a monster night against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday as he finished with a season-high four points. His two goals in the second period kept the Red Wings in the game and the home side could use another big performance in this one to end the losing streak.

#1 Tomas Tatar

This will be Tatar’s first game against the Wings since being moved to Vegas at the trade deadline. In his first four games with his new team, Tatar has scored one goal. This could be a game where Tatar shows the Golden Knights organization his scoring ability to the team moving forward. It will be strange seeing him in a different uniform as well.