Eichel's 'emotional' return with Golden Knights ends in loss to Sabres

BUFFALO -- Jack Eichel said he underestimated the raw emotions of returning to Buffalo in a visiting uniform for the first time.

And there was no shortage of them at KeyBank Center on Thursday, both for the Vegas Golden Knights forward and the Buffalo Sabres fans who jeered him from start to finish.
The boos started the moment he stepped onto the ice for warmups and intensified once the game started, ending in a 3-1 Sabres victory. Not only did the 25-year-old hear them every time he touched the puck, he was greeted by them each instance he was on the ice.
"That's the loudest I've heard this place, ever," Eichel said after the game. "It only took seven years and me leaving for them to get into it."
From 2015-21, this was Eichel's NHL home. Selected by the Sabres with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, he scored 355 points (139 goals, 216 assists) in 375 NHL games with Buffalo and was the face of the franchise.
The player and team parted ways because of a disagreement on how to treat a herniated disc in his neck that kept him out of the final 33 games last season. The Sabres were not comfortable with his desire to have artificial disc replacement surgery, which had never been performed on an NHL player before, and opted to trade him to the Golden Knights, who allowed him to have the procedure.
Eichel was traded to Vegas on Nov. 4, along with a third-round pick in the 2023 or 2024 NHL Draft, for forwards Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a first-round pick in the 2022 or 2023 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2023 or 2024 draft.
He had the surgery Nov. 12 and made his Golden Knights debut Feb. 16. Eichel has scored seven points (three goals, four assists) in 11 games.
All the while, he had anticipated this game on the schedule, wondering what it would be like and what kind of reception he would get.
"I think it was something that I was looking forward to getting behind me," Eichel said. "I'd spoken to a lot of guys that had played and went back to places, and they all said how tough it was their first time going back. It's tough. It's emotional. It's not easy by any means."

Vegas coach Peter DeBoer predicted Wednesday it would be a rough ride for Eichel.
"The first 20 minutes, they owned the emotion and the energy and that's not surprising," DeBoer said. "I think you had a crowd, a team, a city that was emotionally invested in this game."
DeBoer said it's good to get the occasion over with, both for Eichel and the Golden Knights.
"You've got a whole city invested here in him and what happened," he said. "Now it's in the rearview mirror. Hopefully we don't have to deal with that again.
"I think there's no doubt it was weighing on him, like it would anybody. It's human nature."
Fans booed Eichel throughout warmups, holding signs that said, "Thanks for nothing Jack. Boo!' and "Eichel #9. I'm not mad, I'm disappointed."
They also jeered when a tribute video appeared on the scoreboard at center ice during the first television timeout early in the first period. Some of those turned to cheers when a number of children he had spent time with at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo appeared on the screen thanking him for what he'd done to help them.
"I was trying not to watch it," Eichel said. "I feel like I'll look at it another time. I didn't want to get emotional and start thinking about stuff like that, especially when you start involving some of the kids and some of the things I did in the community here. I think that hits home.
"I did appreciate the tribute though."
Eichel had two shots and was minus-1 in 17:50 of ice time. He was overshadowed by Krebs and Tuch, who each scored a goal against his former team.
"You can talk about the boos and stuff like that, but honestly, we heard a lot of cheers, we heard a lot of Buffalo chants," Tuch said. "The crowd was on our side, they really were and it was electric tonight. It was a phenomenal feeling, and to get a win in front of that big of a crowd is something that really goes a long way.
"We want to keep feeding off that energy and build momentum and keep that going, so we hope to see all those fans back in the building here soon."
On this night, KeyBank Center had the electricity and vibe of a Stanley Cup Playoff game. Tuch and his teammates won't soon forget it.
Eichel, on the other hand, certainly is going to try.