Sports can be absolutely bizarre at times. Sometimes, you have a 1% chance to win a hockey game, only to score two in the third period and win in overtime. The Vegas Golden Knights are a perfect example of this after they defeated the Detroit Red Wings last week.
But that also involves your best superstars. It doesn't matter if it's Pavel Dorofeyev only having 14 even-strength goals or Tomas Hertl only scoring 11 goals at five-on-five (entering Thursday, of course). Sports can be absolutely strange.
That also includes Jack Eichel, who's having an unusual season in one aspect. Sure, the stats indicate that he's thriving with 23 goals and 49 assists. Still, there's one particular area that's rather strange.
The area? The power play. You might look at his assists and say, "Oh, well, everything's fine! He has 24 assists on the man advantage!" However, that's not the problem here. What's glaring in this aspect is the goals. So, what's unusual about this regard?
Jack Eichel doesn't have a power play goal for the Golden Knights in 2025-26
When you look at the Golden Knights' power play this season, it's been one of the few bright spots of the team. Aside from the penalty kill (seventh-best in the NHL entering Thursday with a PK% of 81.5), the Golden Knights had the NHL's third-best power play (25.4% entering their home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins). Overall, special teams has been a focal point for Vegas this season.
Mainly, the power play has been led by a combination of Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev (29 goals between the two forwards). But one person surprisingly doesn't have a power play goal this season. His name? Jack Eichel.
In fact, he has more short-handed goals (1 from Sunday's game against the Edmonton Oilers) than power play goals. You can probably guess how much he has by the short-handed goals he has this season. That's right, zero.
The surprising stat has been a weird anomaly for Eichel and the Golden Knights this season
When you consider how well Eichel has done with scoring goals for the Golden Knights, it's a shocking stat. It wasn't long ago that the American Olympian had 11 goals on the power play (2023-24, in fact). In fact, he did decently in this department last season, scoring five power play goals.
However, the donut in the ol' power play goal section for 2025-26 is shocking. Look at who has one power play goal this season. That includes Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore, and Reilly Smith. Heck, Braeden Bowman (the undrafted rookie) has two goals on the man advantage this season.
Even with the regular season winding down, fans should still be high on their franchise face getting one power play goal. The Golden Knights' man advantage has evolved into one of the best units in the NHL, mainly because of Hertl and Dorofeyev. However, the American Olympian is bound to get in on the fun and snag a goal or two.