Eichel scores twice, Golden Knights edge Hurricanes

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel scored two goals for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

"It was a great effort and a lot of resiliency from our group to stick with it," Eichel said. "It was a tight-checking game. There wasn't a ton of room out there. They play the game going forward. They put a lot of pressure on you. I thought we did a good job at managing that."
Reilly Smith scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, and Adin Hill made 24 saves for Vegas (36-19-6), which had lost two in a row.
"We had a good meeting this morning with most of the lines," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We talked about that it's that time of the year. It's 200-foot games, it's details are going to make the difference against good hockey clubs. Tonight, a very good hockey club. They bought in. We did a good job at limiting shots. … In general, we did a good job."

Martin Necas and Jordan Staal scored, and Frederik Andersen made 17 saves for Carolina (39-12-8), which has lost two straight.
"We let [Eichel] alone a couple of times. He's not going to miss," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "We had a great third period. We did everything we had to do to get back in there. Unfortunately, we went to sleep for a second, then it's in the back of your net. We had a good start to the game. Little lull in the second, we didn't play our game that well. We made a couple of errors. We gave their best player a breakaway. All in all, I loved how we came back, we just had that one mental error in the third that cost us."
Eichel gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 5:11 of the second period, taking a pass from William Carrier and scoring high glove side from above the right circle.
"Shea [Theodore] makes a great play up to Will," Eichel said. "Will finds me and I'm just trying to use the [defenseman] as a screen, and good to see it go in."

Necas tied it 1-1 at 13:02. He skated from end-to-end down the left wing, cut to the right while putting the puck under William Karlsson's stick, and scored glove side on Hill.
Eichel then made it 2-1 at 18:51, beating Andersen five-hole on a breakaway.
"Great play by Phil [Kessel] and then a great play by [Ivan Barbashev] to lead me on the breakaway," Eichel said. "It starts in our end. We've done a good job at limiting the interior shots of the other team. That's been one of the real keys to our success lately."

Barbashev's assist was his first point with the Golden Knights since being acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. He played on the top line with Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault.
"Tonight was a little bit easier, trying to understand a little bit more of Jack and 'Marchy' and how they play," Barbashev said. "They made it easier with their support, and (I) just try and play simple."
Staal tied it 2-2 at 12:44 of the third period with a redirection of Brent Burns' point shot, but Smith gave the Golden Knights a 3-2 lead at 16:18 when he finished a backdoor pass from Michael Amadio.
"[Karlsson] and 'Amo' did a great job. They've been giving me a lot of chances over the last 10 or 11 games we've played together," Smith said. "It's nice to put one in the back of the net."

NOTES:Eichel has scored five goals in his past five games. … The Golden Knights acquired forward Teddy Blueger in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins
earlier in the day
. "He's a checking centerman who scored some points," Cassidy said. "Here's a kid who alters his game to do what he has to do to play in the National Hockey League. Right away, I'm impressed by that."