Schmid, Golden Knights hand Hurricanes 1st loss of season

LAS VEGAS -- Akira Schmid made 22 saves in relief after Adin Hill left in the first period, and the Vegas Golden Knights handed the Carolina Hurricanes their first loss of the season, 4-1 at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.

Hill left with a lower-body injury at 9:54 of the first period after making four saves.

“It's hard and easy at the same time [to come into the game cold],” Schmid said. “You just jump in there. You don't really overthink it too much, like you might do when you're starting. You just kind of play and see how it goes.”

The Hurricanes (5-1-0) defeat leaves the Golden Knights (5-0-2) and Colorado Avalanche (5-0-1) as the only teams in the NHL without a regulation loss.

Hill’s injury came in Vegas’ first game without captain Mark Stone, who is week to week with an upper-body injury the forward sustained in a 6-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. He was placed on injured reserve earlier Monday.

“He didn't come back. So, that's not good right away,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said of Hill. “We'll be able to get you a better picture on Thursday.”

Jack Eichel scored to extend his point streak to seven games for Vegas. He leads the NHL with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists). Ivan Barbashev had a goal and an assist, and Pavel Dorofeyev scored his seventh goal of the season.

Sebastian Aho scored, and Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for the Hurricanes.

“Our first wasn't great. They had a few bounces, but I thought we made some tough plays with the puck to really get to our game,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “After that, we played a pretty solid game. Being down two is tough, and we can't quite figure out how to get back into it.”

Eichel gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 8:42 of the first period when his attempted pass to Barbashev was redirected in by K'Andre Miller.

Dorofeyev extended it to 2-0 at 10:28. Mitch Marner stole the puck in his own end and put the puck behind the defense, allowing Dorofeyev to chase it down.

“He's harder to get [the puck] from, that's one of the reasons he is scoring,” Cassidy said. “He’s able to hang on to some pucks. Tonight was more of it. I’ll say his pace. I'll use that goal. He separates, and he's been doing a good job. He's a little bit quicker this year, probably something to do with strength.”

Aho cut it to 2-1 at 4:18 of the second period, sneaking a wrist shot underneath Schmid’s right arm. Nikolaj Ehlers had the secondary assist for his first point with Carolina.

“They were pretty good. They obviously got the one and had a few other looks,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They have to be on the score sheet. I'd like to see us get a little more of them on the power play. They're not connecting yet in the way they need to be really effective. But overall, the game is there for us.”

Barbashev made it 3-1 with a wrist shot at 11:06 of the third period following a Miller turnover.

“He just fell,” Barbashev said. “Kind of lucky for me. Just took advantage of it. It was a big moment in the game.”

William Karlsson added an empty-net goal at 18:23 for the 4-1 final.

NOTES: Hurricanes defenseman Charles Alexis Legault played 12:30 with a hit and two blocked shots in his NHL debut. … Karlsson’s goal marked his 400th point in 562 games with the Golden Knights. He has three goals this season -- one short-handed, one on the power play and the empty-net goal on Monday.