At the quarter pole of the 82-game season, Eakin ranks second on the Golden Knights in goals with eight, only two behind team-leader Jonathan Marchessault. He's also tacked on three assists this season, two of which came in the midst of a five-game point streak from Nov. 6 to Nov. 14. He leads the group in shorthanded goals with three.
His effectiveness in every zone is useful for head coach Gerard Gallant, but even more valuable to the Golden Knights is Eakin's versatility.
"Cody plays a good two-way game for us and he plays his role really well," Gallant said.
Coaching a player like Eakin is easy to do because he knows exactly what he needs to do each time he steps on the ice.
"What you tell is Cody is just 'keep playing your game, don't worry about the guys you're playing with,'" Gallant said.
Eakin started the season with an injury. But when he returned to the ice, injuries elsewhere in the lineup required last season's third line center to jump up into a more offensive role. That hasn't been a problem for the 27-year-old Winnipeg native.
On November 14 in a key division matchup against the Anaheim Ducks, Eakin scored twice for the Golden Knights in the second period. Both goals were microcosms of what Eakin's done well offensively this season. The first goal came after winger Alex Tuch beat a Ducks player along the board and took off into the neutral zone. Eakin recognized the offensive chance that was formulating and bolted up the center of the ice. As the 2-on-1 developed, Eakin opened up, took a sharp pass from Tuch and wired a shot into the top of the net.
The second, a shorthanded goal, came when he picked the puck off in his own zone and used the bounty of open ice ahead of him to skate in on a breakaway. He held the puck on his backhand and ripped a shot off the bottom of the crossbar and behind the goaltender for his second of the evening.
"That was very impressive," Tuch said. "I wouldn't put it past him, he's got a lot of skill, but I didn't think he was going to go bar-down on the backhand."
The goal impressed everyone in the building, but Eakin noted that if he hadn't scored two beautiful goals, some fans might not recognize all that he does well during a game.
"If it's a casual fan, I don't think they'd notice anything," Eakin said. "I try to do all of the little things. I try to help out with everything as much as I can no matter what it is."
Whether he's scoring goals, directing traffic in the neutral zone or policing Vegas' defensive zone, Eakin consistently brings a high level of effort each time his skates touch the ice. That persistence is what the Golden Knights need to catch up in the Pacific Division and, when Eakin brings that to the rink every day, it's infectious.
"He plays with a lot of heart and a lot of energy," Tuch said. "He skates really hard and he works his back-side off every single day."
