The Vegas Golden Knights (5-0-2) played the final of a three-game homestand on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes (5-1-0). They lost Adin Hill early due to injury, but Akira Schmid answered the bell. They won their fourth consecutive game, toppling the previously undefeated Hurricanes by a score of 4-1.
The Hurricanes are typically a high-shot volume team, but the Golden Knights defended well. They held them to just eight shots in the first period, and 27 overall.
For the second game in a row, the Golden Knights started well and scored the first goal. Ivan Barbashev lost the puck after entering the zone, but the Hurricanes flubbed the clearing attempt. Brandon Saad recovered and found Jack Eichel at the bottom of the right dot. Eichel tried to find Ivan Barbashev back-door, and the puck went in off of K’Andre Miller’s stick.
Jack Eichel tries to find Ivan Barbashev back-door, and the puck goes in off of Jordan Staal. The Golden Knights have now scored the first goal two games in a row.
1-0, Golden Knights
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) October 21, 2025
Less than ten minutes into the first period, goaltender Adin Hill left the game with an injury. Akira Schmid replaced him in net.
The Golden Knights doubled their lead 34 seconds after play resumed. Tomáš Hertl got a stick on Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s pass, and Mitch Marner intercepted. He sent the puck ahead for Pavel Dorofeyev, who turned on the jets, burned Alexander Nikishin, and beat Freddie Andersen with a ‘Forsberg.’
The Hurricanes cut the Golden Knights’ lead by one 4:18 into the second period. Seth Jarvis sent a pass through Colton Sissons’ legs, and Sebastian Aho one-timed it past Akira Schmid.
The Hurricanes pushed in the third period, but the Golden Knights weathered the storm. Despite spending a good chunk of it hemmed into their own zone, they didn’t allow another goal.
The Golden Knights regained their two goal lead 11 minutes into the third period. Brandon Saad stripped Nikolaj Ehlers of the puck in the defensive zone and sent a stretch-pass that eluded Ivan Barbashev. K’Andre Miller collected the puck and retreated to his own zone. Barbashev pressured and gave Miller a tap; Miller went down and Barbashev picked his corner.
Ivan Barbashev probably should’ve gotten called for tripping there. He gave K’Andre Miller a tap and the big man went down. Barbashev picked up the change and capitalized.
3-1, Golden Knights
— Hannah Kirkell (@h_kirk6) October 21, 2025
The Hurricanes continued to push, and pulled Freddie Andersen for the extra attacker. They failed to generate a good look, and William Karlsson found the empty net.
Three stars of the game: Akira Schmid, Ivan Barbashev, Brandon Saad
7 Golden Knights Observations
1. The Golden Knights placed Mark Stone on IR before tonight’s game. You can read what exactly that means for the team here.
2. For the second time in six days, Adin Hill exited a game early with an injury. This isn’t like last week against Calgary where he toughed it out for the remainder of the period. Tonight, he couldn’t put any weight on his left leg. When Hill made it off the ice, members of the team staff had to all-but carry him down the tunnel.
“He didn’t come back, as you know,” said Bruce Cassidy postgame. “That’s not good right away.”
3. Hill’s injury means that, for the foreseeable future, Akira Schmid is probably the starting goaltender in Vegas. He played well tonight, entering the game cold for the second time in six days and making 22 saves. Now, we’ll find out if he’s ready for more responsibility. We’ll also probably see one of my preseason predictions come to fruition this weekend.
4. Brandon Saad looked excellent tonight. He was flying all night. The Hurricanes don’t allow their opponents much time or space, so Saad took his forcefully. With Mark Stone injured, he had an opportunity to play on the top line with Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev, and he ran with it.
“He’s very simple to play with,” said Barbashev of Saad postgame. “He works hard, and he plays the right way.”
5. Jack Eichel sure has scored some interesting goals recently. Tonight’s goal wasn’t all that uncommon, but combined with his floater against the Bruins and his half-court shot against the Sharks? Sometimes, you’ve gotta be good to be lucky, and you’ve gotta be lucky to be good. Jack Eichel is very good, and recently, he’s gotten very lucky.
6. Pavel Dorofeyev scored again tonight. He probably should’ve had two, but Freddie Andersen committed highway robbery with a really spectacular glove save.
7. Mitch Marner replaced Mark Stone at the goal line on the top power play unit, and Shea Theodore returned to the top of the umbrella. It’s hard to measure how they’ll fare when all you have to go off of is a game against the Hurricanes. They obviously miss Stone. But tonight, they also missed Marner as the quarterback– Theodore looked rough.