Gone Streaking: 3 Observations as Hill, Eichel Silence the Crowd in Golden Knights Win

It’s been five years since the Vegas Golden Knights acquired Jack Eichel from the Buffalo Sabres, but today’s game at KeyBank Center made one thing clear. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed; when he returns to Buffalo, the crowds that once chanted his name will remain committed to voicing their displeasure when he has the puck.

But on Eichel’s game-winning goal, the puck was on and off his stick and in the back of the net so fast that the crowd didn’t get the chance to boo.

“It’s always nice to win,” said Eichel following the 4-1 win. “It’s a place I spent a lot of time, so it’s always good to come in here and get a win.”

Tonight’s victory ends the Golden Knights’ four-game Eastern Conference road trip on a high note. They have won three in a row and picked up points in all four games. 

“Our execution rose, I thought, as we went through the trip,“ said Golden Knights head coach Ryan Craig. “Our level is continuing to climb. We’re 19 games in. So I’d expect our game to continue to get better, and when it strays a little bit, it’s our job to get it back.”

“It was a really good road trip for us,” agreed Eichel. “There were some tight games, some timely goals, and some huge saves. A lot of credit to the guys; after a long road trip, they found a way to win here in the afternoon. We’ll head home with seven of eight [points].”

The Golden Knights beat the Sabres and scored four goals for the first time in five games. However, the Sabres came out hot and outshot the Golden Knights 14-6 in the first period. The only reason that Buffalo didn’t take the lead was the stellar play of their goaltender, Adin Hill.

“They came out hard,” said Hill following the 4-1 win. “It’s their building. But we just kind of held on. We obviously weren’t our best that period, and our power play didn’t get it going. But we found a way to keep it 0-0 at the end of the period. And our guys blocked a lot of big shots. Yeah, we held on.”

Hill was incredible in net, stopping 28 of the 29 shots he faced and saving 2.54 goals above expected.

“The first wasn’t very pretty by us,” said Mitch Marner following the game. “I think a lot of people would probably agree with that. Our goalie’s been unreal for us here these last few weeks. Hiller made some big saves when we needed him to.”

When teams are chasing the game, anything can help swing momentum in their favor. Usually, taking three consecutive penalties doesn’t help; today, however, the Golden Knights gained momentum from three second-period penalty kills.

“Sometimes a kill can get you going,” said Mitch Marner following the 4-1 win. “I think it kind of gets you on your toes more; it gets you anticipating plays. I think we did a really good job with our first kill going into our second, and obviously capitalizing once on the kill, and then capitalizing once right after. So both were big moments of the game.”

Since only allowing one goal on a 5-minute major against the Boston Bruins, the Golden Knights have killed off eleven straight penalties.

“We’ve had some timely kills, some big kills, and it was important to do that,” said Jack Eichel. “I thought our penalty kill had been good even earlier in the year; they were just finding ways to score. I think we’ve done a good job keeping the puck out of our net. Special teams are a big part of our game, and we’ve done a good job the last little bit on our PK.”

With a goal and an assist in today’s game against the Sabres, Mitch Marner became the fastest player to record 100 points as a Golden Knight. He reached 100 points in 98 games, narrowly beating Mark Stone’s record of 103 games.

Marner sprung William Karlsson on a shorthanded breakaway during the first kill of the game, and later scored a beauty on a shorthanded breakaway of his own. 

“I didn’t really know what I was doing until I did it. So that keeps people guessing as well,” said Marner. “There was pretty good ice out there, so I trusted myself pretty confidently. It’s always fun to see one drop. It’s been a while. I don't want to grip the stick too much, but I do like to see one go.”

Marner also assisted on Tomáš Hertl’s first goal of the game, which came just a minute and 17 seconds after the Sabres got on the board and cut the Golden Knights’ lead to one. Before getting off the ice for a change, Marner picked off Rasmus Dahlin’s bank pass and sent Hertl flying into the zone with speed. Hertl cut around Owen Power, took it to the net, and stuffed it home.

“It was a great response by our guys,” said Adin Hill following the 4-1 win. “[Buffalo] got that one goal there to make it a 2-1 game, and then maybe 2 shifts later Herts finds a way to bury one. It’s huge when you get that insurance goal.”