Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist and Logan Thompson made 35 saves to pick up his first NHL win, leading the visiting Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.
Eichel, obtained in a Nov. 4 trade with Buffalo and playing his third game since undergoing neck surgery on Nov. 12, scored his first goal since Jan. 28, 2021. With Vegas leading 1-0 in the first period, Eichel drove toward the left side of the net, took a behind-the-goal pass from Chandler Stephenson and then slid a shot past the left pad of James Reimer.
Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist and Keegan Kolesar and Stephenson also scored goals for the Golden Knights, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Shea Theodore added a pair of assists for Vegas, which also improved to 17-1-3 all-time in regular-season games against the Sharks and has won the last 10 in a row.
Thompson, the reigning AHL Goalie of the Year, was making his second NHL start and third appearance.
Nick Bonino scored a goal and Reimer finished with 31 saves for San Jose, which lost its sixth consecutive game and 10th in its last 12.
Vegas took a 1-0 lead at the 10:14 mark of the first period when Kolesar fired a long wrist shot from the top of the right circle that scooted past Reimer’s blocker for his fifth goal of the season.
Eichel followed 4:20 later with his four-on-four goal to make it 2-0. Pacioretty increased the lead to 3-0 early in the second period with his 15th goal of the season and third in two games when he snapped a bad-angle wrist shot from along the left boards that sailed over the right shoulder of Reimer.
Bonino broke Thompson’s shutout bid midway through the third period when Theodore lost an edge and the puck behind the goal. Andrew Cogliano scooped up the puck and hit a wide-open Bonino in front of the net, where he buried his sixth goal of the season and first in 16 games.
Stephenson sealed the win with an empty-netter with 33 seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media