LAS VEGAS -- The Penguins' longest road trip of the season is in its final hours.
And while players and staff no doubt are looking forward to returning home -- even if they'll have to dig their vehicles out of the snow when they arrive -- Mike Sullivan said after the team's optional game-day skate that he does not believe the final game of an extended trip poses any particular challenge for clubs.
"Every night is a challenge," he said. "That's just the nature of the sport. I'm not sure if it's any different whether it's the last game of the trip or the first game on the trip."
Of course, their opponent tonight at 10:08 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena, the Golden Knights, can cause enough problems, regardless of when a team faces them.
Vegas is 23-14-2 and is in first place in the Pacific Division.
The Golden Knights' lineup is deep and talented, and is headlined by big-time talents such as Alex Pietrangelo, Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone, among others.
"We're playing against one of the best teams in the league tonight," Sullivan said. "I don't know that there's a weakness to their game. They're a very good team off the rush, in particular, and their defense is a big part of that."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Forwards Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker took part in the skate and will be "game-time decisions," Sullivan said. The expectation is that both will be in the lineup tonight.
• Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Evan Rodrigues, Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin and John Marino exercised their option to not participate in the skate.
• Drew O'Connor, who had a "maintenance day" Sunday, will not play tonight and will have an injury further evaluated when the team returns to Pittsburgh.
• Sullivan broke into the NHL as a player with a particularly weak expansion team, the 1991-92 San Jose Sharks. Their early struggles contrast vividly with Vegas' first season, 2017-18, when Marc-Andre Fleury led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final. "It's impressive," Sullivan said. "Obviously, the rules were very different in those days than they are today with some of these expansion teams, but you have to give Vegas credit, because they did a great job with constructing their roster and they were competitive, right from the very first drop of the puck."
• Tristan Jarry will be in goal for the Penguins.
• Forwards Zach-Aston and Danton Heinen and goalie Casey DeSmith remain in the COVID protocol, Sullivan said.
• The Penguins are expected to deploy their top four centers -- Crosby, Malkin, Carter and Teddy Blueger -- at that position for the first time this season. "The depth at the center-ice position is so critically important to being competitive in this league. When we have the full complement of centers that we envisioned we'd have before the season started, we feel really comfortable with those guys down the middle. We have size, we have offensive capability, we have defensive capability, we can utilize guys in different roles. That's what we had envisioned in the offseason. It's taken a long time for us to get here."
• Because it was an optional skate, there were no personnel combinations of consequence.
