Down 3-0 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, the Vegas Golden Knights completed their comeback at 3:58 of the second period when Jack Eichel converted a penalty shot to tie the game. He continued his hot start to the 2026-27 season, adding a first-period assist before scoring his second-ever penalty-shot goal to start the second. Overall, Eichel is now 2-for-4 on penalty shots in his NHL career, including 1-for-2 with Vegas. In Golden Knights history, his goal on Thursday was only the seventh successful attempt in 20 opportunities. On Thursday, Eichel became the fifth Golden Knights player to convert a penalty shot, joining David Perron, Jonathan Marchessault, Mark Stone, and Reilly Smith.
Original Misfits dominate Golden Knights penalty-shot history
The first-ever penalty shot in Vegas history came in their inaugural season on Oct. 31, 2017, when Perron beat Henrik Lundqvist at Madison Square Garden in a 6-4 win. Almost a year later, former Conn Smythe Trophy winner Marchessault beat Craig Anderson in overtime on Oct. 28, 2018, to secure a 4-3 Golden Knights victory at T-Mobile Arena. As with so many things in the franchise's early years, Vegas initially seemed to convert penalty shots easily, going 2-for-2. However, a cold streak began just a few months later. Smith failed on his attempt against the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 12, 2019, and William Karlsson failed on Mar. 15, 2019, against the Dallas Stars.
Marchessault had the Golden Knights' next three attempts, going 2-for-3. He didn't score against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 13, 2019, but converted against the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 31, 2019. He added another successful attempt against the Colorado Avalanche during the postseason round-robin tournament at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Aug. 8, 2020.
Meanwhile, the Ducks faced Vegas' next two penalty shots. Chandler Stephenson failed to score on Apr. 16, 2021, and Mattias Janmark followed with another unsuccessful attempt on Dec. 31, 2021.
Golden Knights have struggled to convert penalty shots in recent seasons
During the 2022-23 season, the Golden Knights had six attempts: Stone scored against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 19, 2022, and Smith scored against the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 9, 2023. Stephenson took Vegas's first penalty shot against their expansion cousins, the Seattle Kraken, on Oct. 15, 2022, and didn’t score. On Dec. 19, 2022, Marchessault took his last attempt in a Vegas sweater, but didn't score against the Buffalo Sabres. William Carrier (Jan. 28, 2023, against the New York Islanders) and Karlsson (Mar. 3, 2023, versus the New Jersey Devils) failed to convert.
After those six attempts in 2022-23, the Golden Knights had just one penalty shot in each of the next two seasons. Eichel failed against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 30, 2023, and Keegan Kolesar failed against the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 17, 2025.
Finally, Mitch Marner became the next Golden Knights player to receive multiple opportunities. He failed to convert against the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 25, 2026, before getting another chance against the Carolina Hurricanes during the Stanley Cup Final on June 6. Having already recorded a hat trick, Marner had a chance to join the exclusive list of players with four goals in a Stanley Cup Final game, but he failed to convert on his penalty shot. On Thursday, Eichel became only the second Golden Knights skater to score twice on penalty shots, moving within one goal of Marchessault's franchise record.
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