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Centers Jack Eichel and Nicolas Roy each had a pair of goals for the Vegas Golden Knights in what was a, 5-2, win over the New York Islanders Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Arena.
“It was good,” Eichel said. “We’ve always been a good rush team but we always want to continue to work on our offensive zone play and scoring a goal out of our cycle. It’s a good goal by [left-wing Pavel Dorofeyev]. There were some good things to like about our offensive zone game. I thought it was a good response by the group.”
This was Roy’s third career multiple goal game and first of the season. For Eichel, it marked his second multiple-goal game this season and eighth as a member of the Golden Knights.
“I thought we were consistent most of the night,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think they’re [Islanders] a team that when they get behind, they’ve got to open up a bit and press. When teams play closer to the vest and tighter checking, that’s usually what happens. They’ve got to take a few chances.”
Vegas remains in the second spot in the Pacific Division standings after Vancouver won earlier in the day to keep their two-point lead over Vegas.
The Golden Knights will have a few days off before their next game in Denver, CO as they get set to take on the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen nationwide on TNT.
Defenseman Lukas Cormier made his NHL debut in this one for the Golden Knights after being called up from the Henderson Silver Knights on Thursday.
“Right now it feels like it went by pretty fast,” Cormier said. “Taking everything in, it was a great experience from top to bottom.”
Cormier recorded his first NHL point when he assisted on Eichel’s second goal.
“Everyone’s a little faster,” Cormier said. “For the system, we’re trying to play in Henderson the same way that they play here which helps make the transition a little easier. It went pretty smooth after that.
On the note of making debuts, defenseman Tobias Bjornfot made his Golden Knight debut Saturday night, playing in place of fellow defenseman Zach Whitecloud who has an upper-body injury according to the team.
Bjornfot finished his debut with two blocked shots to go along with a hit and a penalty.
The turning point of the game came off the pads of goalie Logan Thompson when he made a save on a breakaway chance in the later stages of the second period. A few minutes after the save, the Golden Knights scored back-to-back goals to break a 1-1 tie and take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
“Those are timely saves,” Cassidy said. “You don’t know when they’re going to come. I think there was one in the first too after they scored, he made a good save. When the goals come in bunches, sometimes it takes awhile for your team to pick up. When you are playing pretty well and like your game, I think it gives you a lot of juice.
“When you are not playing well, sometimes you are avoiding the inevitable. Tonight, I thought our guys were in a good place. I thought they were doing things and to get that save, it matters. Sometimes you look and say oh it’s 5-2 it doesn’t really matter but it did matter at the time. Timely goals and timely saves can really change momentum swings in the game and do wonders for your team and that was a great save.”
Thompson finished the game with 28 saves on 30 shots faced for a final save percentage of .933 in the win. Since Dec. 12. He came into this game with the second highest goals against average and the second lowest save percentage in the league.
“That was a big moment in the game,” Eichel said. “Timely saves are so important in this game. He made them tonight. It’s awesome to see, he’s battled for us. He’s made some big saves not only then but in other parts of the game so tons of credit to him, he stepped up tonight.”
After tonight’s game, Thompson is now 9-2-1 in games where he allows two or less goals. He currently sits with a 1-2 record in the month of January and is 11-8-3 this season.
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