Mark Stone may have walked off with the hats, and Jack Eichel keeps stacking up points, but the real engine behind the Golden Knights’ 7-2-0 start is a lineup that keeps coming at teams in waves.
Through nine games, Vegas already has 13 different goal scorers, and that kind of spread is exactly what Ryan Craig wants to see. The Knights are sitting atop the NHL standings, and it’s not just because their stars are doing star things. It’s because the whole group is chipping in, from the top line all the way down.
Stone leads the club with six goals after his third-period hat trick. Eichel has five goals and 16 points. But the story of this early surge keeps coming back to depth - timely scoring, steady pressure and a roster built to keep the pace high without leaning too hard on the top names.
“When we’re at our best, we’re rolling four lines,” Braeden Bowman said. “We have everybody contributing and doing their thing, and you know when the full team’s going, we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”
Bowman offered a perfect snapshot of that idea Thursday. Calgary cut Vegas’ lead to 2-1 with a shorthanded goal, then Bowman answered for the fourth line by scoring on the second power-play unit to push the margin back to two goals. Craig called it exactly the kind of response the team talks about all the time.
“We talk about those kinds of reset shifts all the time,” Craig said. “That was one from the second unit going out there and getting the job done.”
The same pattern showed up Tuesday in Nashville, when five different Golden Knights found the net in a win. Beyond Stone and Eichel, Tomas Hertl and injured Victor Olofsson have four goals apiece, while rookie Trevor Connelly and Brett Howden have three each. William Karlsson, Mitch Marner and Bowman have two each.
The production isn’t limited to goals, either. Ivan Barbashev had three assists against Calgary, another sign that the scoring burden is being shared up and down the roster.
“Everybody’s stepping up in our team,” Barbashev said. “It’s fun to play right now.”
Craig said the depth starts before the puck ever reaches the offensive end. He pointed to the forwards’ back pressure, the defensemen’s quick puck movement and the way the group stays connected enough to turn stops into rushes no matter which unit is over the boards.
“The depth of our lineup maybe allows us to do that with whatever line is on the ice,” Craig said.
Bowman has become a useful example of that versatility. Skating with Marc Gatcomb and Nic Dowd, he brings forechecking pressure and reliable defense, and his work on special teams gives Vegas another lane for him to help.
“He can play up and down our lineup. He can play on the special teams,” Craig said. “Braeden’s a very responsible, detail-oriented player.”
Stone likes what that means in the bigger picture. Spreading out the minutes now can help keep the key guys fresher when the schedule tightens and the season turns toward its most important stretch.
“If you can have your top guys playing 16 to 18 minutes a night and rolling over lines, it’s the formula for us going into that time of year,” Stone said.
“It’s a good thing to have four lines that are ticking.”
The headliners are still the headliners. But right now, Vegas is building something better than a two-man show - it’s getting help everywhere.
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