Another Vegas Golden Knights game and another winning effort from franchise center Jack Eichel.
Eichel, who according to Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon is, “all about winning,” picked up a goal and an assist on Friday night in a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche to give his team a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final.
The series now shifts to Fabulous Las Vegas with Games 3 and 4 set for T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights trailed 1-0 in the third period when Eichel got his team on the board wiring a shot past Colorado goalie Scott Wedgewood. Minutes later, Eichel slipped a pass to linemate Ivan Barbashev who beat Wedgewood from long distance with a shot that went bar down. Eichel now has three points in the series.
“I think he’s the best 200-foot player in the game,” said Vegas head coach John Tortorella about Eichel. “I do, and there are some good ones but he’s right there. I’ve been fortunate enough to be with him. Really, the first time I met him was 4 Nations and then through the Olympics. I watched him from afar, I watched him grow as pro. He did some things defensively that you probably don’t see that were very important for us. I think he wants to score more; I think he wants to make more plays and there’s not a lot of ice out there. But you can trust him, he’s going to do that stuff and that’s an important part of trying to find your way in the playoffs.”
With Mark Stone out of the Vegas lineup, Eichel takes on a bigger bite of the leadership role with his team. His teammates respect and love him. A mix of confidence and humility goes a long way with players in an NHL dressing room and Eichel embodies that balance.
“That’s a very nice compliment. There’s a lot of really good 200-foot players in this league. For me personally, I just try to be a complete player and help our defensemen when we don’t have the puck. Do the little things right, compete and when you have the opportunity to produce and make plays, do that,” said Eichel, who has a Stanley Cup and an Olympic gold medal already in his trophy case. “It’s always been a focus of my game, and I think it’s something that you really need to hone in on this time of year especially. We know how hard it is to win and a lot of that falls on playing hard defensively.”
The line of Eichel, Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeyev hold an 8-3 edge at 5-on-5 versus their opponents in the playoffs. Eichel plays against the other team’s top center almost all game, every game. Sawing off is an acceptable outcome in these situations but Eichel has been dominant.
“The three of us want to take pride in playing a complete game and doing things the right way defensively when we don’t have the puck. It was good to be able to contribute offensively tonight,” said Eichel, who along with his wingers totaled three goals and four assists. “I thought we had a few chances there in the first game and weren’t able to capitalize. It’s one of those things where you just keep trying to make plays when you have the opportunity and it was good to see a few go in, but you just try to do the little things right and those things come.”
Eichel is not just a defensive specialist and sits second in playoff scoring with two goals and 16 assists for 18 points which is just one point back of league leader and teammate Mitch Marner.
“Phenomenal. I mean, he’s such a good 200-foot player, but man some of the offensive things he can do with the puck, how smart he is, how patient he is. He steps up at big moments. That’s what you need out of your best players. Incredible by him tonight,” said VGK defenseman Noah Hanifin, referring to Eichel.
Since the 2022-23 season, Eichel has held a unique position in the hockey world. He has been the top center for a Stanley Cup champion team in Vegas, Team USA’s silver winning squad at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025, Team USA’s gold medal team at the Olympics earlier this year and now a Golden Knights group which is two wins away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final again.
The 29-year-old has the ability and the willingness to determine what his team needs on a shift by shift, period by period and game by game basis and then go out and deliver it. Need a shutdown shift? Jack is your man. Need a goal? Jack can do it. PK? Call Jack. PP? Give the puck to Jack.
“I think my mindset is pretty much the same every game. I know what I want to try to accomplish with and without the puck and the way I want to play. It’s being responsible defensively and trying to provide offense when I can,” he said. “I think that’s kind of the way I’ve transformed my game the last few seasons. We have such a great team it really makes it easy. Playing with [Ivan Barbashev] as much as I have the last few years, [Pavel Dorofeyev] has been phenomenal, obviously spent a lot of time with [Mark Stone], he’s a guy you can learn a lot from defensively and away from the puck. So much credit to our D. We lose [Brayden McNabb], the five of them really stepped up, I thought that they played hard. They make our job really easy as far as, they break the puck out, they close. They did a lot of really good things and as a centerman you just want to try to support them on the breakout, be good defensively and do the little things well. I thought we all did that tonight, so many shot blocks and desperation plays. Credit to our group it really feels like we’re playing for each other.”
