Jack Eichel’s scoring surge, combined with strong goaltending from Logan Thompson, is proving to be a winning formula for the Vegas Golden Knights in their pursuit of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Eichel scored twice, marking his first multigoal game since joining Vegas, and Thompson made 26 saves to secure his fourth consecutive win as the Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Friday night.
Vegas, the previous NHL expansion team, completed a season sweep against the league’s newest expansion team. The Golden Knights had previously beaten the Kraken in the season opener in October and shut them out 3-0 on Wednesday night.
“Every game is competitive in this league. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Eichel said. “They’ve got a lot of good players over there. … You just have to take care of business every night. We know our position, but we can only control so much and focus on getting two points each game.”
Eichel’s goals were his eighth and ninth of the season in his 22nd game for Vegas. Shea Theodore added his 10th goal midway through the second period.
Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson each scored empty-net goals in the final 2 1/2 minutes to seal the victory for Vegas. Marchessault’s was his 27th of the season, while Karlsson netted his 10th.
The win pushed Vegas back into a playoff spot in the Western Conference, moving them one point ahead of Dallas for the second wild-card position.
“It was just a matter of time with Jack Eichel,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer. “We reviewed some tape during the off day, and he could have also had two or three goals last game. He’s getting great looks, playing a solid 200-foot game for us, and now the goals are coming.”
Evgenii Dadonov contributed two assists, bringing his point total to seven since his controversial trade to Anaheim was voided by the NHL last month.
Alex Wennberg got Seattle on the board at 10:44 of the third period with his ninth goal of the season, thanks to a great setup from Jared McCann. Kole Lind added his first NHL goal with 1:38 left, following Marchessault’s empty-netter.
McCann also found himself in a rare fight during the second period, just the sixth of his career.
“Frustration is the easiest way to put it. Things haven’t really gone our way this year with bounces or anything like that,” McCann said. “I just feel like it kind of boiled over tonight. Obviously, I don’t do that very often.”
In his eighth straight start, Thompson was solid when tested, though Seattle had few quality scoring chances. Karson Kuhlman came close twice, missing an open net in the first period and hitting the crossbar in the second.
Thompson is 6-2 over his past eight starts for the Golden Knights.
“I’m kind of like a broken record. I just keep getting more confident every day,” Thompson said. “Pete’s letting me run with it, and I’m just having a lot of fun. The guys are playing really well.”
Eichel’s first goal came at 10:28 of the first period after a defensive lapse by Seattle allowed Alec Martinez to find him in front of the net. Eichel added his second just after Kuhlman hit the crossbar in the second period, taking advantage of a pass from Dadonov. Theodore later made it 3-0, scoring on a rush down the center of the ice.
Eichel’s last multigoal game was in February 2020, when he played for Buffalo against Pittsburgh. He has now scored four goals in his past four games.
Game Notes
- McCann got the upper hand in his fight with Vegas’ Michael Amadio. McCann had only 12 penalty minutes entering the game. Seattle’s Yanni Gourde and Vegas’ Ben Hutton also had fighting majors.
- Vegas forward Keegan Kolesar was scratched after a fight with Seattle’s Jamie Oleksiak in Wednesday’s game. DeBoer listed Kolesar as day-to-day.
- Seattle scratched defenseman Haydn Fleury (upper body) and forward Jaden Schwartz (upper body), both missing their fourth straight game.
UP NEXT
- Golden Knights: At Vancouver on Sunday.
- Kraken: Host Dallas on Sunday.
