Jack Eichel makes his much-anticipated return to Buffalo on Thursday when the Vegas Golden Knights face the Sabres.
Eichel was the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by Buffalo right after two-time Hart Trophy winner Connor McDavid was selected by Edmonton. The 25-year-old center scored 139 goals, 216 assists and 355 points and also set a franchise record with eight overtime goals in six seasons with the Sabres.
But Eichel, who finished eighth in the Hart voting in 2020 after scoring 36 goals to go with 42 assists in 68 games, had a falling out with Buffalo management after suffering a spinal disk herniation last March in a game against the New York Islanders. Eichel wanted to become the first player in NHL history to undergo disk replacement surgery while the team, which had final say under the league’s collective bargaining agreement, argued for fusion surgery.
Eichel was eventually stripped of his captaincy and traded to Vegas on Nov. 4 for forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs and a first- and second-round draft pick. He underwent disk replacement surgery on Nov. 12 and made his Golden Knights debut in a 2-0 loss to Colorado on Feb. 16. He has scored three goals, including a game winner with 5.2 seconds left on Sunday against Ottawa, and dished out four assists in 10 games with Vegas.
Eichel told reporters after Wednesday’s practice that he had no hard feelings against the Sabres for the way things ended.
“There is no bitterness. None,” he said. ” … They stuck by their doctors’ opinions and I respect that. I hope people can respect my decision to do the same.”
“He looks like himself,” said Buffalo coach Don Granato, who added there would be no extra emotion from his team surrounding Eichel’s return. “He looks like he’s getting back to normal.”
The game is a big one for a Vegas team that was an overwhelming favorite to win the Pacific Division and contend for its first Stanley Cup.
The Golden Knights are clinging to third place and a Western Conference playoff spot with 68 points and have struggled to score goals. Vegas is averaging just 2.09 goals per game over its past 11 games (4-6-1) while getting shut out two times, scoring one goal twice and two goals in three contests.
Vegas opened a five-game road trip with a 2-1 loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday despite outshooting the Flyers, 48-21, including 34-13 over the final two periods. Carter Hart made a career-high 47 saves while outdueling Robin Lehner, who gave up two soft first period goals.
“We didn’t score enough to win the game,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer matter-of-factly. “I think our start, getting behind 2-0, you’re chasing the game all night and that allows them to kind of sit back in a shell and defend their net and block shots.”
Evgenii Dadonov scored on a power play, his first goal in 18 games, for the only goal by the Golden Knights. Vegas failed to convert on a six-on-four advantage over the final 1:45 after Ivan Provorov picked up a delay of game penalty and Lehner was pulled for an extra attacker. Eichel attempted four of the team’s six shots during that span.
“I feel like we’re always running into hot goalies,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “We need to switch that luck around a little bit. It’s not good enough for our group.”
Buffalo comes in off a 6-1 loss to Florida on Monday and has dropped eight of its past 10 games.
–Field Level Media