LAS VEGAS − The Wild and Vegas Golden Knights are meeting tonight in Game 5 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series at T-Mobile Arena.

Sarah is rink side and Chris Miller is at command central, so follow along in live time tonight.

Jon Merrill is making his series debut, with the Wild tabbing the veteran defenseman to replace Zeev Buium on the third pairing.

Merrill hasn’t played since the regular-season finale two weeks earlier on April 15. He was scratched for Games 1-4 while Buium teamed with Zach Bogosian on the Wild blue line.

“It’s always heartbreaking to come out the lineup,” Merrill said. “It’s upsetting, but I’m just really excited to be back in tonight and help this team get a win.”

Winger Marcus Johansson also returns after a lower-body injury sidelined him for Game 4 when Vegas evened the best-of-seven 2-2 with a 4-3 overtime win.

In Game 5s, the Wild are 5-9 all-time and all five of those victories have come on the road.