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.
Victor Olofsson, Trevor Connelly, Noah Hanifin and Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights. Ivan Barbashev, Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb each had two assists, and Carter Hart made 23 saves.
Patrick Kane scored in his return to the Blackhawks, Jordan greenway scored in his Chicago debut and Spencer Knight made 32 saves.
Kane pulled the Blackhawks to within 3-2 at 4:04 of the third period, winning a foot race to a loose puck and scoring around a sprawled-out Hart.
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 the first 16 of his 19 NHL seasons, winning the Stanley Cup three times.
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 added an empty-net goal at 17:27 for the 5-2 final.
Olofsson ripped a wrist shot from above 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 Golden Knights’ lead to 2-0. He recovered a rebound and finished at the near post.
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 traded to Chicago from the Buffalo Sabres on June 23.
Eichel put Vegas ahead 3-1 at 15:12 after 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).
Blackhawks forward Andrew Mangipane left the game with an undisclosed injury after taking one shift in the second period.
