The hockey gods giveth, the hockey gods taketh away. That was the case on Friday as the Golden Knights were beaten by the Anaheim Ducks. This came on the heels of a resounding 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, where five different Golden Knights scored.
It's a cruel reminder that hockey can be an extremely tough game to gauge. You have the upstart Ducks, who've spent years building their team up to become respectable. They certainly did that on Friday, which you'll read more about in this round-up.
Still, it's early in the hockey season and there's a little Pacific Northwest trip that awaits. You'll see teams like the Seattle Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks soon, with both teams providing plenty of offense to start the season. Will that happen again next week? Stay tuned.
But let's look at what happened this week first. There were plenty of highs and there were plenty of lows. Let's hop on the roller coaster of emotions and see what happened in a topsy-turvy week for the Vegas Golden Knights. Get ready to be happy and sad!
Trevor Connelly leads the charge for the Vegas Golden Knights against the Chicago Blackhawks
Not many people think that the Vegas Golden Knights do a good job with young players. The team generally trades their prospects away for premier depth pieces. Yet that wasn't the case with Trevor Connelly, who led the Golden Knights to a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. The reason? He scored his first career NHL goal.
Connelly was the fourth Golden Knights rookie to score a goal in his NHL debut after Mason Morelli (February 19, 2024), Vadim Shipachyov (October 15, 2017), and Cody Glass (October 2, 2019). If the former first-round pick can hold on and become a key contributor, that'll bode well for the Golden Knights on the wing and on offense.
The Golden Knights get beat by the Anaheim Ducks
Look, I've said numerous times on here that the Anaheim Ducks were going to be a threat to the Golden Knights. Of course, that threat would've been weakened by mismanagement on the restricted free agent side. However, that was a moot point as the Ducks defeated the Golden Knights on Friday, 4-3.
Goals by Alex Killorn, Beckett Sennecke, Jeff Malott, and Leo Carlsson, sent Carter Hart down the tubes and showed that the Ducks shouldn't be taken lightly. Watch for Anaheim throughout the 2026-27 season, especially if Lukas Dostal finds his legs.
The Jack Eichel tracker comes to life
Everyone talks about how Jack Eichel is the chosen one to eclipse the century mark in points for the Golden Knights. No player has achieved this in a single season, with Eichel coming the closest in 2024-25 (94).
Despite Friday's loss, he scored two assists. Plus, there are two additional games on the schedule, giving the Olympic gold medalist some wiggle room to make history. Plus, he's been known to rebound from quiet games with resounding performances.
Bonus: William Karlsson signs a two-year contract extension
Congratulations, Karly. You deserve it!
Add us as a preferred source on Google