Jack Eichel got the final word in Buffalo, and the Golden Knights left town with a comfortable 4-1 win that only got louder when the former Sabres center buried the game-winner against the team that drafted him second overall. The boos were already rolling for Mitch Marner after his shorthanded breakaway goal opened the scoring, but they never matched the reaction Eichel drew when he beat his old club.
After Buffalo answered, Tomas Hertl took over in the third period with two goals, giving him his third two-goal game of the season and moving him into second on the team with nine, behind captain Mark Stone’s 10. Adin Hill backed it all up with 28 saves for his sixth win.
The crowd in Buffalo made its feelings clear from the start. Eichel’s return always carries extra noise there, and Marner drew his own share of it because of his ties to the Sabres’ northern rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Most fans wouldn’t put Vegas and Buffalo in the same rivalry bucket, but the teams are forever connected by the Eichel trade. The Sabres’ side of that deal never ended the way they wanted, while the Golden Knights went on to win the Stanley Cup.
So when these teams meet in upstate New York, it’s never just another night.
Hertl’s surge was another major piece of the win. He opened the season with three goals in four games, then slowed down with only four over his next 13 after Victor Olofsson went down injured.
But the Czech forward has found his rhythm again, with an assist against the Bruins, two goals against the Penguins and another helper against the Red Wings before Sunday’s two-goal outburst. That gives him four goals in the past three games and a four-game point streak, his longest of the season.
For a team that leans on its top scorers but still needs production behind them, that kind of stretch matters.
Olofsson’s return has also given Vegas a noticeable jolt, even if the scoresheet didn’t show it against his former team. He missed about a month before coming back against the Red Wings a few nights ago, and on Sunday he was active, involved and around the puck all afternoon.
He finished without a point and with two shots on goal, but the impact went well beyond that. When he was healthy, he was averaging more than a point per game, and the Golden Knights were 3-1-0 before his absence, then 7-4-2 without him.
Since he’s been back in black and gold, Vegas is 2-0-0.
There was still a familiar problem early on. The Golden Knights didn’t start sharply, and while this first period wasn’t their worst of the season, it wasn’t close to their best either.
They failed to cash in on two power-play chances in the opening frame, were outshot 14-6, and managed only three shots on goal in the first 14 minutes. Slow starts have become a theme of the 2026-27 season, but this group is good enough to absorb a rough opening and still finish the job.
That won’t always be easy, and it won’t always work, but Sunday brought another two points, with the Edmonton Oilers waiting on the schedule in two weeks.
Vegas now heads home for a five-game stretch at T-Mobile Arena. The homestand starts Wednesday night against the Utah Mammoth, followed by visits from Nashville and Vancouver before the Golden Knights close it out with two games against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 17 and 19.
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