3 Takeaways from the Golden Knights' 4-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins

A quiet free agent acquisition set the tone on a quiet Trade Deadline day for the Vegas Golden Knights. Tanner Pearson scored his 11th of the season off a gorgeously quiet pass by Mark Stone, and the Golden Knights never trailed in a 4-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was another piece in a so far dominant homestand that Vegas has never trailed. Here are my three takeaways on another phenomenal night at the Fortress.

Eichel line lights the Strip

Put anyone to either side of Jack Eichel and there’s gonna be a good deal of production offensively. That’s been the big lesson that’s been taking shape throughout this homestand. The line contributed two of the Golden Knights’ four goals against the Penguins, including this sweet bit of stick work by Mark Stone early in the third that officially puts this game to bed.

Since February 27th’s wild 7-5 win against Chicago, the Eichel line has had six goals, 11 assists, and a +6. Much of that occurred during the last two games with Tanner Pearson lined up alongside Eichel and Mark Stone (three goals, seven assists, and a +11). With Reilly Smith on the roster, will this pairing hold up? It's hard to tell. But while he’s getting into the swing of things again in Vegas, why not ride this hot hand as long as possible? That's especially true if the Victor Olofsson scratch turns into something more.

Good Samsonov re-enters the chat…

Yes, it was against a Penguins team that’s won once since February 8th. But a strong solid performance from Samsonov is still something to cheer about, even if Pittsburgh phoned it in during that third period. With a packed week upcoming, including an early morning back-to-back next weekend against Buffalo and Detroit (which is probably where his next start will end up if I had to guess), having both goalies hot will help to squeeze in some rest for Hill for what’ll be a brutal first round matchup regardless of the opponent.

Deadline acquisitions provide a little good, a little work-in-progress

It feels only right, on Trade Deadline day, to talk a little bit about the Golden Knights’ two big acquisitions. Reilly Smith was kept off the scoresheet on his 400th game with the team and didn’t have much of an impact in 14:19 TOI. That isn’t a big shock given he hasn’t played in a week. Once he gets into the swing of things with this team, he’s gonna be just fine. As for Brandon Saad, he had a great game tonight with his 10th of the season and his first back-to-back positive +/- since his arrival February 2nd.

Next on the Marquee:

We have the Los Angeles Kings ready to close off a potentially perfect homestand on Sunday at 5 P.M. They’ve lost five in a row (possibly six if they lose to St. Louis tomorrow night), and have been outscored 21-8 since their comeback victory on February 24th against Vegas. So signs are pretty good that they can split the season series against Los Angeles on Sunday, barring another stone job by Darcy Kuemper. Till then…