The Vegas Golden Knights kicked off the 2026-27 campaign with a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night at T-Mobile Arena in the season opener.
Ryan Craig became the fifth Golden Knights coach to win in his debut, leading Vegas to a 1-0-0 start in Year 10.
Trevor Connelly scored his first career goal in a memorable NHL debut, and Marc Gatcomb was highly effective in his first game in a Vegas sweater. Also, Jack Eichel became just the ninth American-born player to reach the 700-point milestone in under 700 games (691) when he scored in the second period.
The Golden Knights also got goals from Victor Olofsson, Noah Hanifin and Mark Stone, while Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb all had multi-point efforts.
Vegas looked awake and ready to go after a mediocre preseason, and the Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a dominant opening frame.
In his second stint in Sin City, “Vegas Vic” got the Golden Knights on the board with an absolute snipe on the power play 10:30 into the contest. The goal came on the rush, as Olofsson absolutely wired one bar-down to beat Spencer Knight and give the home team the 1-0 lead. Eichel and Theodore picked up the helpers for their first points of the 84-game season.
It didn’t take long for Connelly to prove his worth, as he scored on his fourth shift in the NHL nearly five minutes later. Connelly stood in front of the net and waited to get a piece of McNabb’s point shot. After tipping it, he followed up on the rebound to give Vegas the 2-0 lead at 15:23. Theodore picked up his second assist of the frame on the play.
Vegas was in complete control in the first period and was especially effective on the rush. It took the Blackhawks more than 12 minutes to record their first shot of the frame despite generating some decent looks that didn’t find their way to the net. In the end, Vegas outshot Chicago 15-6 and led 24-14 in shot attempts and 7-4 in high-danger chances with a 72.16 percent expected goal share.
The first and third lines were particularly effective, as the top line of Eichel, Mark Stone and Barbashev led 8-0 in Corsi in 3:37 while the third line of Tomas Hertl, Connelly and Olofsson held a 5-1 edge in 1:34. That being said, the second line created multiple odd-man rushes but wasn’t able to convert.
The second period was more choppy but featured another two goals, one for each squad.
In his first game with Vegas, Parker Wotherspoon took the first Golden Knights penalty of the season when he was called for roughing, but it didn’t slow Vegas down. In fact, Vegas had two glorious shorthanded chances, both of which were shut down by the sensational play of Spencer Knight. The Golden Knights held the Blackhawks without a shot on the power play, though Patrick Kane did hit the crossbar after beating Carter Hart cleanly. It was Kane’s first game back with the Blackhawks since 2023.
But Chicago was able to cut the deficit in half 27 seconds after the successful kill when Jordan Greenway took advantage of some miscommunication between Theodore and McNabb and beat Hart to make it 2-1 at 12:23.
Chicago took control of the momentum after the goal, but Vegas restored its two-goal lead less than three minutes later.
A stellar shift by Vegas’ top line resulted in Eichel’s first tally of the season to make it a 3-1 game with 4:48 remaining. Barbashev set up the play, and McNabb picked up his second assist of the night with the secondary helper.
Notably, it was the 700th point of Eichel’s career (691 games).
The Golden Knights took the 3-1 advantage into the locker room after leading 13-6 in shots and earning 76.73 percent of the expected goal share in the second, per Natural Stat Trick.
Through two periods, Vegas had more than twice as many shots as Chicago (28-12) and led 16-7 in hits, with Gatcomb leading the way with a game-high six.
After another hapless power play by the Golden Knights, a Vegas turnover led to a Kane breakaway. This time, the veteran made no mistake, waiting for Hart to go down and then roofing it into the cage 4:04 into the third.
But that didn’t faze the Golden Knights, who made it a two-goal game once more just 39 seconds later.
The fourth line cashed in, with Hanifin collecting a sweet feed from Nic Dowd to make it 4-2. Gatcomb recorded the secondary assist on the play for his first point as a Golden Knight.
Chicago got its second power play of the night with 8:11 left in the third when Gatcomb was called for unsportsmanlike conduct following an explosive hit by Sam Rinzel on Braeden Bowman. But Hart and the Golden Knights took care of business on the kill, finishing the night 2-for-2 while shorthanded.
With the goalie pulled, Chicago tried to make it a one-goal game, but Vegas’ top line came through with another relentless shift. Barbashev out-muscled Bowen Byram on the forecheck, and Eichel found Stone for the empty-netter.
The Golden Knights are now 8-1-1 all-time in season openers.
All in all, it was a very strong performance by the Golden Knights.
They faced an inferior team without its best player, but it was a very promising start to the new season. Vegas was able to stop the bleeding when Chicago scored, something that plagued the Golden Knights throughout 2025-26. Instead of giving up multiple goals, the Golden Knights responded 2:49 after the first goal and 39 seconds after the second, maintaining control of the game and never allowing the Blackhawks to reset the score.
After a shortened preseason, the Golden Knights could have come out flat and discombobulated but did not. All four lines were impressive, with three of them finding the back of the net.
Unsurprisingly, the top line looked like it was in mid-season form, scoring two goals and combining for six points while putting together several fantastic shifts. Vegas needs its top players to perform, and that’s exactly what they did in the home opener.
The chemistry the second line developed in the playoffs remains very much intact, even if the trio of William Karlsson, Mitch Marner and Brett Howden was unable to produce. But if that line continues to generate odd-man rushes, it’s only a matter of time before it gets its timing right on the backdoor plays.
The third line featured two goal-scorers and produced one of those goals at even strength. It’s clear that the skill on Hertl’s wings will benefit the Golden Knights and will help fill the hole left by Pavel Dorofeyev’s absence.
The fourth line had some trouble throughout the game, though that was partly because Chicago’s fourth line was its strongest all night. Even so, Vegas’ new-look unit scored a critical goal in the third period, with Dowd and Gatcomb picking up assists on Hanifin’s first goal since Dec. 9. Gatcomb came fully as advertised, and his physicality will be a key element for that line throughout the season.
Hart wasn’t overly tested but made a few key saves and did what he had to do to get the win. Hockey is a game of momentum, and Hart helped the Golden Knights prevent Chicago from getting back in the game. It was a more complete outing than Hart’s last game in the preseason, and it’s certainly something he can build on.
The two goals he surrendered were directly related to poor coverage by Vegas, with Theodore and McNabb’s confusion leaving plenty of time and space for Greenway in the second period and a turnover allowing Kane to come in alone in the third. Hart finished the night with 24 saves on 26 shots for a .923 save percentage and the win.
But while the Golden Knights played well and picked up the important two points, the power play needs improvement. Vegas technically converted with Olofsson’s first-period laser, finishing the night 1-for-3, but the man-advantage looked hesitant and stale. There was one promising chance when Stone found Hertl in front in the first period, but Vegas otherwise struggled to get set up and made careless plays that led to turnovers and clears.
It’s very early, but the Golden Knights will need to work on the fluidity moving forward. Olofsson should be on the top unit; it will be interesting to see if and when Craig makes that adjustment.
Connelly and Gatcomb were impressive in their respective debuts. Connelly scored a big goal that demonstrated patience, hockey sense and skill, and he recorded four shots on the night.
Gatcomb had a standout performance on the fourth line, recording an assist, a plus-one rating, three shots and eight hits while also standing up for his teammate.
However, Wotherspoon had an underwhelming showing. He drew a penalty just 1:02 into the game but also took an unnecessary minor for roughing in the second. He finished the game with a minus-one rating, one shot and one hit as well as five giveaways.
The Golden Knights have two more games this week, including a home meeting against Anaheim on Friday night and a road tilt in Vancouver on Sunday.
Statistics courtesy of NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick.
Featured photo via the Golden Knights