The Vegas Golden Knights secured their first regulation win of the season with a 4-2 come-from-behind victory against the Calgary Flames Tuesday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The Golden Knights trailed 2-0 in the first period but scored four unanswered goals, including two in the span of 2:27 in the third. Jack Eichel scored twice, and Vegas also got goals from Kaedan Korczak and Tomas Hertl. Mitch Marner tallied two assists, and Mark Stone extended his season-opening point streak to four games with an assist on Eichel’s first of the night.
Adin Hill got the nod but left the game after the first period. In relief, Akira Schmid stopped all 19 shots he faced for his second win of the year.
Vegas is now 2-0-2 on the season and has picked up six out of a possible eight points through four games. The Golden Knights wrapped up their three-game road trip with a 1-0-2 record.
Cole Reinhardt made his season debut in place of Brett Howden, who is considered day-to-day; Reinhardt recorded three hits in 9:22.
First period
The Golden Knights struggled getting out of the zone early, and they gave up a breakaway less than a minute into the game. However, Hill was patient and shut down Blake Coleman’s bid to keep things scoreless.
However, the sloppy play continued, and it led to a strong passing play by the Flames, which resulted in a goal for Mikael Backlund. MacKenzie Weegar faked a shot to draw Vegas to one side before throwing it to Backlund for the weak-side tally. Hill tried to dive across but was unable to get over in time.
Later in the period, Hill appeared shaken up after taking an initial shot to the mask, shaking off his mask and then falling awkwardly while facing a subsequent shot. He finished the period but did not return for the second period; he was ruled out with a lower-body injury, though Bruce Cassidy did not have an update on his status following the game.
Another Vegas turnover set up the Flames’ second goal of the period. A failed clear followed by a careless pass to the middle of the ice led to Coleman’s second of the season at 12:10.
The turnovers continued throughout the frame; as a result, Cassidy benched the first line of Eichel, Stone and Ivan Barbashev, which was on the ice for both of the Flames’ goals.
Second period
But Cassidy put the top line on the ice to start the middle frame, and it eventually paid off. Though it took half a period, the top line broke through to get Vegas on the board.
The Golden Knights had numbers, but Eichel decided to take it himself, chipping home his own rebound to cut the deficit to one at the midway mark.
The Golden Knights came close to giving up a late goal but were fortunate to reach intermission trailing 2-1. Schmid turned aside all 11 shots he faced after coming in cold.
Third period
Vegas reset the score 4:11 into the final frame on Korczak’s first of the season. It was a strong shift by the new-look second line featuring Hertl, Marner and Pavel Dorofeyev, and Korczak hammered one home after collecting a loose puck in the high slot.
“The puck kind of just spit out from behind the net, and there was kind of no one in the lane,” Korczak said after the game. “I passed up [a chance to shoot] there in the first, and just decided to shoot that one, and thankfully it went in.”
Less than three minutes later, Eichel scored his second of the night and fourth of the season to give Vegas its first lead of the night. Eichel went coast-to-coast before stuffing the puck through Flames netminder Dustin Wolf at 6:38. It proved to be the game-winner and was his league-leading ninth point of the season.
The Golden Knights were in control the rest of the way, and they delivered a particularly convincing defensive effort in the final two minutes of the contest, preventing Calgary from getting set up with the goalie pulled. With seven seconds left, Marner and Hertl teamed up on Hertl’s first of the season, icing the win with the empty-net goal for the 4-2 finish.
The Golden Knights have given up the first goal in all four games of the regular season; they did the same in all seven preseason games as well as in each of the final three games of the second-round series against Edmonton in last year’s postseason.
But the Golden Knights have been resilient so far this season, and tonight was no different, though this was the first game that did not require extra time.
Schmid said the Golden Knights are “never out of the game,” which they proved tonight in large part thanks to his steady play in net. He faced 1.53 expected goals against, per Natural Stat Trick, but yielded zero, stopping 19 of 19 shots.
“Sometimes those games are almost easier when you just get thrown in,” Schmid said. “You’re down two, you just play your game. You don’t overthink it, just get into the flow.”
He gave the Golden Knights time to settle in and find their game.
“[Schmid’s] just got a calm presence about him,” Eichel said. “His demeanor’s really good. Tons of credit. it’s not easy to step in there in the middle of the game, but he made some huge saves for us and gave us a chance to win.”
Korczak had a similar message about the Vegas netminder.
“He made some huge saves for us there, especially in the second on [the Flames’] power play. [He made] timely saves, kept us in the game. He was solid.”
Schmid is 4-0-1 in seven appearances with Vegas going back to last season; he is 2-0-0 with a 1.80 goals-against average and .929 save percentage this year.
Cassidy, who commented on the fact that Schmid has played well every time he’s suited up for the Golden Knights, described him as “under control” and “composed. [He] gets out and plays pucks that he’s able to get to. He’s just been good for us.”
Obviously, there’s concern regarding Hill, especially considering his injury history. Though Cassidy did not have a specific update, he did say that Schmid likely will start Thursday against Boston since that was the original plan. Carter Hart will be eligible to sign a contract starting Wednesday, though he will not be able to play until Dec. 1. The most likely call up will be Swedish netminder Carl Lindbom.
Tuesday’s win was the first game this season in which Vegas did not score on the power play. The two teams had three combined opportunities, with Vegas going 0-for-2. That being said, the fact that Vegas scored three goals at 5-on-5 is an encouraging sign.
“It’s something we’re gonna need to do,” Eichel said. “We know our power play’s gonna be a weapon for us and help us win games, as well as our penalty kill. But just being able to score [at] 5-on-5 is so important in this league. It was good to get a couple at 5-on-5. We got to build off of it.”
Cassidy also stressed the necessity of producing at 5-on-5.
“You can’t rely on your power play every night,” he said. “We have a good one, and if teams are gonna take penalties, we usually make them pay. But [the Flames] were pretty disciplined tonight, and I thought we were. But that’s the formula, especially when you give up a couple early ones; then you’re gonna have to score some [at 5-on-5].”
But the offense wasn’t there from the start.
Cassidy’s decision to bench the top line at the end of the first period sent a message, and it was the right one. Eichel’s response was evident, as his first goal sparked the comeback and his second decided the game.
“He’s an elite player in the league; that’s what they do,” Cassidy said. “It’s tough to do that every night in this league, but I think it’s his mindset as much as anything. He was upset about his first period. Their line, puck management was an issue, but they got going. They knew that they could be better, and he’s the driver of that line, and they were [better].”
Eichel took over the game starting in the second period, and the rest of the team followed.
“That’s nothing new,” Korczak said. “We see it every night. He drives plays for us. He’s just an unreal player.”
The Golden Knights also demonstrated more of a shoot-first mentality as the game wore on.
“I did like our mindset on that. We funneled a few more, put some pressure on them to box you out, things like that. If we can build that in slowly over the course of the year, I think we’ll be harder to play against, and we’ll get a few more goals off maybe just broken-down plays where you recover a puck. It doesn’t have to be a rush chance or a great play in the zone. It’s more just outworking the other team and getting greasy.”
It will be particularly important for Eichel to shoot more this season, regardless of whether he plays with Marner, who is known for his playmaking ability.
Eichel certainly demonstrated a willingness to do that tonight, as he drove to the net on both of his goals, especially on the game-winner.
“I knew we had a little odd-man rush there, so we had numbers,” Eichel said. “I just saw an opening to the back post and decided to take it to the net. Hopefully I can try to do that more, and it was just good to see that one go in.”
He had nine shot attempts in total, seven of which found the net. Hertl and Ben Hutton also had nine shot attempts, while Marner (to his credit) had seven. The only player on the team without a shot attempt was Keegan Kolesar.
Korczak also didn’t hesitate about getting the puck to the net, and it resulted in the first goal scored by a Vegas defenseman this season.
“We want to find any way we can to generate offense, and it was good to help out tonight,” he said.
The Golden Knights did not deliver a 60-minute effort, and they were forced to chase once again. They were particularly careless with the puck early, and that led to both of Calgary’s first-period strikes. That being said, Vegas rebounded nicely.
“After the first period, it wasn’t looking great,” Cassidy said. “We had a little conversation about how we want to play: what’s acceptable, what’s not. That wasn’t us in the first period. We were really loose with the puck; we’re usually a pretty responsible team. So let’s start with that — get back to making them earn their chances — and see if we can tilt the ice. It was a grind, but I like the last 30 minutes or so. I thought that’s what we’re supposed to look like.”
The Golden Knights were especially effective in the third period, and not just because they outscored the Flames 3-0.
“I thought we forechecked really well,” Eichel said. “We stuck with it and … didn’t allow them to get back in the game with transition because we were forechecking well.”
The Golden Knights will look to build off their third-period performance when they return to T-Mobile Arena for a three-game homestand, starting Thursday night against Boston.
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.