Eichel, Golden Knights defeat Canucks to end 5-game skid

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist, and the Vegas Golden Knights ended a five-game skid with a 5-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.

Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev also scored, and Mark Stone had two assists for the Golden Knights (26-16-14), who had lost seven of eight (1-5-2). Akira Schmid made 21 saves.

“I don’t think by any means it was our best game,” Eichel said. “But found a way to win, that’s what matters. Come back tomorrow [against the Los Angeles Kings] and win another game. That’s our focus now.”

Defenseman Elias Pettersson and P.O Joseph scored, and Teddy Blueger had two assists for the Canucks (18-33-6), who have lost six of seven (1-5-1). Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.

“We had some good things going on,” Vancouver coach Adam Foote said. “We had some positives we’ll take out of that. We’ll grow from that game. … We need everyone on board. When we’re playing our best hockey, everyone is. We had blips of it today. We just had a tiny breakdown and mistakes on a couple of goals.”

Eichel put Vegas ahead 1-0 at 5:09 of the second period. He slipped a shot by Lankinen after taking a pass from Rasmus Andersson from the half wall.

Cole Reinhardt scored 1:25 later to extend it to 2-0 at 6:34. Braeden Bowman found Reinhardt, who went backhand to forehand in front of Lankinen on the rush and finished at the far post.

Pettersson cut it to 2-1 at 7:11 after scoring on the rush, but Barbashev responded 28 seconds later to make it 3-1, roofing a wrist shot from the slot off a drop pass from Stone.

“Any time the other team scores, you want to have a response,” Eichel said. “It’s good to find a way to get the goal back after you give one up.”

Joseph cut it to 3-2 at 19:51 with a wrist shot from the left point. It was his first goal since April 4, 2024.

“There are a lot of good things that we did tonight,” Joseph said. “We’ve got to focus on the little details that make us slip into games like that. There are a lot of positives. So, we need to get into the (Olympic) break and get into a good mindset.”

Dorofeyev extended it to 4-2 at 2:31 of the third period after Mitch Marner won a puck battle near the side boards and found Dorofeyev at the far post for an easy tap-in.

Alexander Holtz scored a minute later to push it to 5-2, finishing from the low slot off a Keegan Kolesar rebound.

“The one at the end of the period was a tough one. We’ve seen those go in this year. … I thought we had a good period, but we have to put that behind us,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Good start to the third period. [We were] on our toes and did not give them life. That was important.”

NOTES: Eichel became the eighth active American player with nine 20-goal seasons. The only players with more are Patrick Kane (17), Brock Nelson (10), Auston Matthews (10) and Chris Kreider (10). … Stone became the second player to record 50 multi-assist games with the Golden Knights, joining Shea Theodore (53). … Dorofeyev (205 games) became the second-fastest player to record 80 goals with Vegas behind only Eichel (186). … Golden Knights forward Kai Uchacz made his NHL debut and had five hits in 11:49 of ice time.