Eichel gets 3 points, Golden Knights defeat Mammoth to extend point streak to 5

SALT LAKE CITY -- Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist for the Vegas Golden Knights, who extended their point streak to five games with a 4-1 victory against the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center on Thursday.

Braeden Bowman had a goal and an assist, and Ben Hutton scored for the Golden Knights (10-4-6), who have won two straight and are 3-0-2 during the point streak. Akira Schmid made 25 saves.

“We're not a great starting team, and Utah is. So for us to be even after 10 minutes was a good thing,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We're getting better at it, each game we've been in the game quicker, so to speak… It helped getting those two quick goals, obviously that gives us life and takes the crowd out of a little bit.”

Nate Schmidt scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Mammoth (10-8-3), who have lost four in a row (0-1-3).

“I did not like the way we responded to the emotion of the game,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We got emotional, we got out of our game, they took over, and it was really difficult for us to get back at it.”

Eichel gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 3:09 of the second period. He sent a long-distance shot on net and the rebound bounced in front to Vegas forward Pavel Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev's backhand attempt then deflected to Eichel, who scored into an open net.

The goal snapped a nine-game goal-scoring drought for Eichel, which was tied for the longest in his career with the Golden Knights.

“You're not going to get many more that are easier than that one, so it was good to get that one,” Eichel said. “I haven't seen the puck go in in a minute. So it was good to see that go in and kind of carry that momentum into the rest of the second and third periods.”

Said Cassidy: “The longer it goes, the more it gets kind of talked about. “I think he's had some real good looks lately. They just haven't gone in for him, and sure enough, he gets one that basically is a tap-in. [If you] hang around the front of the net long enough, keep going there, you'll get rewarded.”

Hutton scored 19 seconds later at 3:28 when he took a pass from Cole Reinhardt off a turnover and beat Vejmelka under his left arm with a snap snot to make it 2-0.

Schmidt cut the deficit to 2-1 at 6:48 with the teams playing 4-on-4, sending a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that squeezed under Schmid's right arm. It was Schmidt's first goal as a member of the Mammoth.

“Winning needs to matter to us. It needs to matter more than anything,” said Utah defenseman Ian Cole, who assisted on the goal. “We need to do whatever it takes to win hockey games. It's a lot of little things. It's a lot of big things. It's bearing down on every puck. It's all of these things.”

Eichel scored his second goal of the game at 16:51 to push the lead to 3-1. Bowman connected on a stretch pass with Eichel, who snuck behind the defense and finished a breakaway with a backhander over Vejmelka's right pad.

Bowman made it 4-1 just 45 seconds into the third period when he set up at the netfront and redirected Eichel's pass from the goal line past the left skate of Vejmelka.

Bowman now has three goals in his first five NHL games, the first player in Golden Knights history to accomplish the feat. He was signed as an undrafted free agent on March 2 and made his NHL debut on Nov. 13.

“It's hard in this League as a young guy. I am surprised, I'll say it,” Cassidy said. “I'm surprised that in his first call-up he's been able to be this consistent. That's a really good sign for the kid, and it's a really good sign for us.”

NOTES: Schmid extended his point streak to seven games (5-0-2). The last Golden Knights goaltender to post a longer run was Marc-Andre Fleury (9-0-0 in 2020-21). ... Schmidt has three points (one goal, two assists) during a three-game point streak.