Golden Knights pull away from Blackhawks, win Craig's debut as coach

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists for the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 in Ryan Craig's debut as coach at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

It was the season opener for each team.

Craig, who coached Henderson of the American Hockey League the previous three seasons, was hired on June 17 to replace John Tortorella.

“It's nice to have my family here to witness the first win. Proud of our guys and our effort,” Craig said. “We won Game 1. That's what we wanted, set out to accomplish. I thought I told our guys we were proud of our training camp. I thought our training camp reflected how we played tonight. So, we'll take our day [Wednesday] and get back to work on Thursday.”

Victor Olofsson, Trevor Connelly, Noah Hanifin and Mark Stone also scored for the Golden Knights, the defending Western Conference champions. Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb each had two assists, and Carter Hart made 24 saves.

Patrick Kane scored in his return to the Blackhawks, Jordan Greenway scored in his Chicago debut, and Spencer Knight made 32 saves.

“We got better as the game went on. Tough to give up one after we cut it to one,” Kane said. “I’m sure there’s a bunch of lessons in there we can learn from. Obviously, Game 1, I think you take these games and try to learn from them and get better as a team.”

Kane pulled the Blackhawks to within 3-2 at 4:04 of the third period, winning a footrace to a loose puck and scoring around a sprawled-out Hart.

“Your eyes get pretty wide when the puck goes by the defenseman, and you’re coming in on a breakaway and chasing up to the puck,” he said. “Just wanted to be patient with it, take my time, kind of make him make a move first and hang onto it. Nice it worked out. Obviously a pretty good feeling.”

The 37-year-old forward signed a two-year, $16 million contract ($8 million average annual value) on July 23 to return to Chicago, where he played his first 16 NHL seasons, including winning the Stanley Cup three times.

“I feel like anyone,” Kane said. “You get better as you get into the game a little bit more and you start getting more ice time and playing a bit more. I thought I was the same as the group, got better as the game went on.” 

Hanifin scored 39 seconds later at 4:43 to extend Vegas’s lead to 4-2, shooting at the right post on the rush.

Stone scored an empty-net goal at 17:27 for the 5-2 final.

“For the most part, we played the right way,” McNabb said. “We checked well. We got pucks back and played well in the zone. We kind of got away from us a little bit in the second, but we dialed it back in and responded well after they scored. So, it was a good 60 minutes.”

Olofsson ripped a wrist shot from the left face-off dot on the power play at 10:30 of the first period to put Vegas ahead 1-0. 

Connelly, who was the No. 19 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, scored in his NHL debut at 15:22 to push the lead to 2-0. He recovered his own rebound and finished at the near post.

“He's a brave kid in the sense of getting to the hard areas,” Craig said. “He plays around the net. He has a knack for lowering his shoulder and trying to get to the net front or the blue paint. We've seen that time and time again with him.”

Greenway cut it to 2-1 at 12:23 of the second period, slipping a shot underneath Hart’s right arm on the rush. Greenway was acquired by Chicago in the trade with the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Bowen Byram on June 23.

“We played really good the first half of the second,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “The last five, six minutes we got hemmed in a little bit, and they scored. But I thought we played well for that part of it, and we pushed back in the third. Listen, you just have to keep learning and getting better. We shouldn’t be satisfied with the level of game we had tonight because I don’t think it was nearly our A game.”

Eichel put Vegas ahead 3-1 at 15:12, tapping in a Barbashev pass from below the goal line at the right post for his 700th NHL point. He got his second assist on Stone’s goal to give him 701 (267 goals, 434 assists).

“Great play by ‘Barbie,’ obviously, and it was a great shift before we got on the ice to set us up,” Eichel said. “Been really lucky and grateful to be a part of this organization, and I think those things just come kind of organically and play with some great players in my career, and, like I said, those things kind of just come.”

NOTES: Blackhawks forward Andrew Mangiapane left the game with a lower-body injury after taking one shift in the second period. “He won’t play on this trip,” Blashill said. “I’m not sure how long or what that means, but he definitely won’t play the next two games.” … Olofsson started his second stint with Vegas, signing a one-year contract on July 1 after playing for the Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames last season. … Kane scored his eighth goal in a Blackhawks season opener and passed Denis Savard (seven) for the second most in franchise history, behind Bobby Hull (11).