The Vegas Golden Knights have been flawless on home ice and went to Edmonton seeking their first road win of the 2024-25 season. Thanks to some timely offensive contributions from Noah Hanifin and Jack Eichel the Vegas club defeated the Oilers 4-2 at Rogers Place Wednesday night.
Eichel opened the scoring
Eichel has been playing well lately, with two goals and four assists in his last five contests. He scored the game's first goal on a pretty feed from Shea Theodore as he broke in alone on Stuart Skinner. Eichel's speed and stickhandling were on full display. He was able to jam the rubber disc by Skinner to give the VGK the lead.
The lead didn't last long as the Oilers made an expected comeback in the middle stanza. Goals by Brett Kulak and Zack Hyman 3:38 apart erased the short lived lead for the Golden Knights. Hyman, who tallied 54 goals last season, recorded just his third. Last season after 14 games Hyman had eight goals, so he may be catching fire.
The third period belonged to Hanifin
Noah Hanifin has been an offensive spark plug, scoring three goals and two assists in his last two games. His scoring prowess led the Golden Knights to victory in both games. In this game, he tied the score at 2-2 with a power play tally and gathered the winning goal with just 48 seconds remaining in the third period.
THE GWG 🫲🫲🫲 pic.twitter.com/NLiIGOXDI1
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 7, 2024
This play developed with an excellent pass from Ivan Barbashev from the boards. He drew Oilers to him, leaving the streaking Hanifin open to bury the game-decider. Captain Mark Stone added an empty-netter with five seconds remaining to send the Oilers away with a defeat. They are off to another slow start this campaign with a less-than-impressive 6-7-1 record.
Holding McDavid scoreless was the key
Anytime you can keep Connor McDavid off the scorecard, you are heading in the right direction. McDavid came back from an ankle injury and may have returned too early. He managed to gain 21 minutes of ice time but only had two shots on goal. He wasn't expected to return to play for at least a couple more games, but how do you hold off the best player in the league if he insists on playing?
Adin Hill performed admirably in the win
Hill made 27 saves and had a stellar .931 save percentage to guide his teammates to an important road win. He's won four straight starts and finally got into the groove between the pipes. If he can get back to form, the combination of him and Ilya Samsonov can help the Golden Knights quest for another Stanley Cup.
The Golden Knights are tied with the Los Angeles Kings for the top spot in the Pacific Division with 19 points. The Kings have played one more game than Vegas. The Golden Knights will now travel to Seattle to face the Kraken, who have lost four straight and are struggling early this season. It would be awesome if they could secure their second consecutive road victory.