It was Eichel’s first points in his second game against the Sabers since being traded to the Golden Knights for Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs on November 4, 2021. He was greeted with heavy boos every time he was on the ice. “It’s rewarding,” Eichel said. “It’s satisfying to come in here and win. I think that was the biggest thing for our team tonight. They were desperate and gave us everything we could and we found a way to make the plays when we needed to.” Chandler Stephenson had a goal and three assists, Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and two assists and Logan Thompson made 31 saves for Vegas (13-2-0), which swept a five-game road trip for the first time. “Probably the best start in my career that I’ve ever had,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. “Knock on wood, good health. Great goaltender, our defense was good. Jack was kind of the leader offensively, but if you look up the scoreboard, so many guys came in offensively … So it was a good game for us and it’s a good start. We have to go home and keep the momentum going.” Video: Jack Eichel scores his 3rd career hat trick Tage Thompson scored twice, Dylan Cozens had two assists and Eric Comrie made 29 saves for the Sabers (7-7-0), who have lost four straight. “I think we were a little sloppy at times giving them free offense and they’re a good team,” Thompson said. “They’re going to make you pay. That’s something we’ve got to learn going forward, managing the puck on both blue lines and making sure we don’t turn it over. That’s the way it goes sometimes. You just have to be a little bit better ». Stephenson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead on the power play at 5:44 of the first period with a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off a rebound. Thompson tied the game at 1-1 at 16:23 on the power play from the left circle off a deflected pass from Kyle Okposo. Nicolas Hague appeared to score 23 seconds later, but the goal was disallowed when video review revealed that Hague had headed the puck into the attacking zone without possession or control and was offside. Phil Kessel gave the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead at 3:43 of the second period on a one-timer from the left circle. Video: [email protected]: Kessel scores 2nd season in 2nd period Casey Mittelstadt cut the net on a power play and lifted a backhand to tie the game at 2-2 at 14:09. Paul Cotter put Vegas up 3-2 on a breakaway at 17:08. “We gave them too much,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “I thought Comrie was great in the first half. The breakaways we gave up were all self-inflicted. He was really good there and we had a lot of chances to get it going, do good things. We just didn’t convert, didn’t clean up the sloppiness.” Pietrangelo made it 4-2 at 3:52 of the third period when his point shot deflected off the stick of Sabers defenseman Jacob Bryson. It was his first goal of the season. Eichel found himself uncovered on the left side of the net to make it 5-2 at 6:13. He has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in a seven-game hitting streak. “It felt good,” Eichel said. “I had a couple of breakaways. … It was obviously on me all night. Yeah, it felt good to get one. It was a big point in the game for our team. I never felt like we were in full control. Give them a lot of credit; they’re a very good team there. They make a lot of plays and put a lot of pressure on you defensively. They have some really good players.” Thompson cut it to 5-3 at 9:40, driving around the Hague net and scoring on top. Video: [email protected]: Thompson scores 10th goal of season in 3rd Eichel made it 6-3 at 14:37 from the bottom of the right circle. Rasmus Asplund cut it to 6-4 with a breakaway goal at 16:31, but Eichel completed his third NHL hat trick when he scored into an empty net with eight seconds left to make it 7-4. “I don’t think we’ve reached our identity at any point this year,” Granato said. “Those are the situations that guide you to your identity. We played a little bit better in tempo and we created more, we had more shots and more shot attempts. We scored four, obviously. We had posts, we had scoring opportunities. We missed, so [generating] it’s not an issue. He gives so much, so much away for free. That was the challenge. That was the point tonight, clearly. “You trade opportunities for the talent they have, it works out the way it did.” NOTES: Vegas’ longest hitting streak is 10, from April 9-28, 2021. … The Golden Knights placed goaltender Laurent Brossoit on waivers. … Pietrangelo has 400 NHL assists. … Thompson has 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in last eight games. He is the first Sabers player to score 10 goals in 14 games or fewer since Thomas Vanek did it in 10 games in 2012-13. … Buffalo forward Vinny Hinostroza had an assist in 14:42 after being scratched the last five games. … The Golden Knights have scored the first goal 11 times this season and lead the NHL with 20 first-period goals. … Buffalo has at least one power-play goal in eight straight games for the first time since Dec. 19, 2008, to Jan. 6, 2009. The Sabers are 11-for-31 (35.5 percent) in the streak.
