The Vegas Golden Knights disposed of the Seattle Kraken by a final score of 6-2 when the two Pacific Division opponents met Tuesday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Golden Knights put together a three-goal second period for the second game in a row, leading 5-0 through 40 minutes. Though Seattle scored twice in the third period, this one was a blowout.
However, the biggest blow may have been to the Golden Knights, as Victor Olofsson was knocked out of the game with an injury after being boarded by Ben Meyers in the third period. Olofsson had scored his third and fourth goals of the season earlier in the contest but played just 10:48 before being helped off the ice.
Head coach Ryan Craig did not have an update on his status after the game but said he was still being evaluated.
It was a strong team effort, with particularly electric performances from Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl, who both recorded four points, as well as Olofsson (two goals) and Mark Stone, who completed a Gorgie Howe Hat Trick when he dropped the gloves with Brandon Montour after the Olofsson hit in the third period.
Vegas scored a season-high six goals in the win, and Eichel now leads the NHL in scoring with 10 points through four games.
Olofsson’s first of the night opened the scoring 13:02 into the first period as he tipped a Rasmus Andersson blast.
Seattle challenged for goalie interference, but Vegas benefited from another unsuccessful challenge, which resulted in a power play. Though the Golden Knights didn’t convert, they took care of business on their next man-advantage less than a minute later when Montour was called for interference.
The five-forward unit returned, and the five-forward unit produced. It was a bang-bang play, with Stone finding Hertl in front.
The Golden Knights led 2-0 after 20 minutes and proceeded to add three more unanswered tallies in the second period.
First, Eichel and Stone generated a 2-on-1 against Montour, who did not have a stick. Eichel’s centering feed on the virtual 2-on-0 set up Stone’s shorthanded marker 1:43 into the second. It was the 400th point for Stone in his Vegas career, making him the fastest player to reach that milestone (404 games) in franchise history.
Eichel’s assist, his second point of the game, made this the 100th multi-point game of his Golden Knights career. He joins a list of elite active players — including Sidney Crosby, Artemi Panarin, Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, Kirill Kaprizov and Evgeni Malkin — to top 100 multi-point games with one team.
Another excellent shift by the third line led to another goal, this one off the stick of Olofsson for his fourth of the year. Hertl and Trevor Connelly assisted on the play at 13:07.
With just 31 seconds left in the period, Eichel stripped the puck and got a clear-cut breakaway, making absolutely no mistake on the shot, which beat Joey Daccord (ultimately ending his night) to extend the road team’s lead to 5-0 at 19:29.
But Seattle’s Shayne Wright ended Carter Hart’s shutout bid with an absolute laser 4:52 into the third period.
Just over three minutes later, Meyers delivered a hit from behind on Olofsson, who went straight into the boards. Olofsson had to be helped off the ice and did not return.
This led to a wild third period that featured multiple fights, more than 50 penalty minutes, power-play goals for both teams and plenty of animosity.
In response to the hit, Stone dropped the gloves with defenseman Montour part way into the ensuing power play, holding his own and delivering as captain.
He said after the game that he didn’t like some of the things that were being said about his team, which is why he fought Montour even though Vegas had the two-man advantage. It was the seventh fight of Stone’s career.
Shortly after the fight, Hertl capitalized on the power play for his second of the game. It was assisted by Eichel, giving both Hertl and Eichel four-point games.
Ryan Winterton later delivered a big hit on Connelly, who was slow to get up. Marc Gatcomb challenged Winterton, but not before Jared McCann scored on the power play to make it 6-2 with five minutes to go. Stone, Andersson, Jeremy Lauzon and Connelly were in the box at the time.
Hart made a few saves later in the period to close out the win, which was one-sided all night.
The Golden Knights played 40 minutes of solid hockey before a questionable hit changed the fabric of the third period and the game.
But Vegas responded well.
“We’re continuing to build our game,” Craig said. “I like the way we stayed with the game. I like the way we stuck together. Just a really good victory.”
The captain set the tone.
“Great team win,” Andersson said. “Stoney stepping up there — fighting when we were up 5-1 on a 5-on-3 — just says a lot about him. He’s willing to do all the dirty stuff, too. He’s a hell of a captain, a hell of a leader.”
Eichel said the players “love seeing it” from Stone.
“It’s part of the reason [Stone] wears the letter he wears on his chest,” Craig said. “He stepped up to the challenge there, answered the bell, and you could see the response from our group.”
But it wasn’t just Stone.
Despite being forced into an ugly third period, the Golden Knights all stepped up to defend each other without sacrificing their hold on the game.
“We’ve been through a lot of different obstacles in my time here, but we stick together,” Stone said. “That’s the type of team that we’ve had. We stuck together through some hard times last year and got to where we got to, and this year is no different. … Obviously, we didn’t like the Olofsson hit, and some things were said. … This is a close team. There’s a reason we have success. It’s not just because we have good players, it’s because we stick together.”
Though the hit was a turning point, the Golden Knights didn’t let Seattle take advantage of them and didn’t allow the Kraken to get back into the game.
“Obviously, we didn’t like the hit,” Stone said. “But we took care of business when we needed to take care of business.”
In addition to standing up for each other, the Golden Knights secured another win on the road, completing the two-game sweep after defeating Vancouver 3-2 on Sunday. Both goalies recorded wins on the trip, which should be even more of a boost for Vegas’ confidence.
“It’s good to get on the road early,” Andersson said. “We stayed over in [Vancouver], and that was good for the team. It was nice to get on the road and build some chemistry, and now we’re just looking forward.”
Craig was pleased with the team’s effort.
“Really good road trip for us,” the Vegas bench boss said. “For us to come into two buildings here in Western Canada and Washington and get two wins, it’s good for our team to continue to build our game.”
But the two wins were very different.
Against Seattle, the Golden Knights capitalized on chances and took over the game in the second period. The offense spiked, the power play and penalty came through and Hart turned aside 25 of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage.
“Just one of those nights, I guess,” Eichel said. “Some things went our way. You get a couple touches on things, and sometimes the puck finds you and finds the back of the net. I thought our group played hard, and I really liked our effort. It was a good road trip for us.”
Eichel put together his third multi-point effort of the year as part of a six-goal explosion by the Golden Knights, who were firing on all cylinders. In fact, Vegas scored at even strength, on the power play and while shorthanded.
Eichel, for his part, scored a goal and added three helpers.
“When he takes charge, he’s hard to stop,” Stone said about Eichel. “His goal, he makes a great defensive play, and once he gets that, no one’s catching him. That kind of put the game on ice going into the third.”
Andersson also spoke about Eichel’s play.
“He’s been dominant since the start of the season,” Andersson said. “It’s fun to see, and it’s fun to play with him. He’s a world-class player, and we’re lucky we get to see it every night.”
It was also a monster night for Hertl, who scored two goals and added two assists.
Eichel called Hertl a “dangerous player” who “finds openings” and “buries it when he gets the opportunity.”
But while a lot of things went right for the Golden Knights, the price could be costly if Olofsson is, indeed, injured.
Though there isn’t likely to be a real update on Olofsson’s condition until Thursday, Craig said the team was not happy with the hit but is hopeful the injury won’t be serious.
“He left the game so we don’t love it, but that’s hockey,” Craig said. “Proud of our response. [Olofsson] is getting evaluated now. … You never want to see anyone leave like that, but he’s been off to a great start for us. … We hope he’s gonna be okay, and we’ll get back to Vegas.”
Olofsson has been red-hot to start the season, so a serious injury would be a major blow to the power play, the third line and the team in general but also to the player, who has read this script before. In his first stint with Vegas in 2024-25, Olofsson had three goals in his first four games before suffering an injury that kept him out of the lineup for six weeks.
Putting Olofsson aside, this was a strong and encouraging performance by the Golden Knights.
“I think we finally got rewarded tonight,” Stone said. “We had quite a few chances in the first few games. … Tonight, we kept pushing, kept capitalizing on big chances, and that’s what led to the big lead.”
It was the most heated the rivaly between these two organizations has gotten, so it will be interesting to see if any bad blood spills over into the next meeting, which is set for early January.
For now, the Golden Knights will be content with a 3-1-0 record through four games.
Next up for Vegas is a two-game homestand against Toronto and Los Angeles.
Featured photo via @GoldenKnights on X