Jack Eichel shook off a quiet start to the week in a big way, and the Golden Knights followed right along.
After being held off the scoresheet in a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, Eichel responded with a goal in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators. He kept rolling Thursday with another goal and two assists in a 6-2 victory over the Calgary Flames, then capped the stretch Saturday with two primary assists to defensemen in another 6-2 blowout, this one against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
That quick burst has the Golden Knights center looking every bit like the player who owns the single-season franchise record for points with 94 in 2024-25. Entering Sunday’s slate, Eichel has five goals and 13 assists, putting him tied for 15th in goals and second in assists across the NHL.
The early-week wobble already feels like a distant memory.
Now comes another stretch that could push him even closer to the 100-point line, with Tampa Bay, St. Louis and Columbus on deck.
Tuesday brings a home matchup with the Lightning, a team loaded with talent. Eichel has played Tampa Bay 25 times and produced five goals, 17 assists and 22 points against them.
The Blue Jackets game on Saturday stands out for a different reason. Columbus is the most favorable opponent of the three from an Eichel production standpoint. In 24 games against the Blue Jackets, he has 12 goals, 14 assists and 26 points, the best totals he has posted against this week’s trio of opponents.
St. Louis sits somewhere in the middle, but the recent track record there is encouraging. Eichel has five goals and five assists in his past nine games against the Blues, including three multi-point outings with one goal and one assist apiece.
As things stand, Eichel is projected for 46 goals and 100 assists this season. Even the assists total would clear the century mark for points, and all three numbers would sit as single-season records. If he gets there, the award chatter will follow.
In Other News...
Golden Knights May Be Unlocking The Rasmus Andersson They Expected
Rasmus Andersson has started to look a lot more like the defenseman the Golden Knights were hoping to get, and the difference may be as simple as who is skating beside him. In recent games, Andersson has been noticeably more involved at both ends of the ice with Jeremy Lauzon as his partner, chipping in goals and assists while also getting in the way of pucks and helping steady the back end.
The contrast has been hard to ignore compared with his earlier pairing with Parker Wotherspoon, who has yet to record a point this season. With Wotherspoon expected back from injury at some point, the Golden Knights will have a decision to make about how they want to configure their blue line, especially if Andersson keeps producing the way he has with Lauzon. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Face A Bigger Early Test Than This Hot Start
Three straight wins and 17 goals have given the Golden Knights a fast start and a little early momentum, but the schedule is about to offer a much sterner look. The next stop comes against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a matchup that should tell plenty about how real this surge feels and whether Vegas can keep piling up offense against a team built to push back.
For a club that has looked sharp so far, this is the kind of game that can either validate the buzz or cool it in a hurry. The Knights have banked the points they were supposed to take, but the Lightning bring a different level of resistance, and Vegas will need to show this hot opening is more than just a friendly stretch of October hockey. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Just Turned One Offseason Fear Into A Bigger Debate
The Golden Knights spent the summer hearing plenty about how they might miss Pavel Dorofeyevs finishing touch, but the first two weeks of the season have only widened the conversation around their attack. Vegas has piled up 41 goals through its first 10 games, a pace that has it sitting atop the NHL in total scoring and near the top in goals per game, with the offense coming from all over the lineup rather than one obvious source.
Jack Eichel and Mark Stone have helped drive the push, Victor Olofsson made an early impact before getting hurt, and rookie Trevor Zegras has quickly become part of the story by leading NHL rookies in goals and points. Even more telling is the distribution behind it all, with 13 of 20 skaters already scoring at least once, which has turned what looked like a potential weakness into a deeper debate about how sustainable this kind of balance really is. [Read more 🡒]