Eichel gets goal, assist in Golden Knights win against Sabres

LAS VEGAS -- Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist in the Vegas Golden Knights’ 3-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Mark Stone and Tanner Laczynski also scored, and Tanner Pearson had two assists for Vegas (27-9-3), which has won eight of nine. Adin Hill made 23 saves.

“It's just the details in our game,” Eichel said. “We understand you're not going to have your best every night. Whether you're not going to have your best legs or the puck's not going to feel great, but we found different ways to win, and different guys have stepped up.

“Obviously, we have a ton of confidence in both our goaltenders and our defensemen. We just try and play to our structure as well as we can every night. That gives us a chance to win. We have good players that make good plays.”

Jason Zucker scored in his fourth consecutive game, and James Reimer made 30 saves for Buffalo (14-21-5), which has lost three in a row after winning three straight.

“Our passing between our ‘D’ and forwards was poor,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought theirs was spot on, and we ended up chasing them around.”

Laczynski gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 4:53 with his first goal since Dec. 5, 2022. He tapped in a rebound off a Brett Howden shot into an open net.

“He's been good down in Henderson (of the American Hockey League), so we're trying to reward and play him,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Big goal for him. Happy for him, right? Different guys are contributing for us, especially in this run. He got it going to the net. Wasn't lucky. It was good play. Good play all around.”

Stone extended it to 2-0 at 12:23, driving to the net and finishing off a pass from Eichel. It was Stone’s 600th NHL point (222 goals, 378 assists).

“So cool for ‘Stoney.’ Well-deserved. He means so much to this group and this organization,” Eichel said. “Anybody that knows Stoney knows how much he loves the game, and he's never cheated for points or for offense. It's always been defense, structure and putting the team first.

“So happy for him. It's an amazing accomplishment. I'm sure he's looking forward to the next however many he gets.”

Eichel pushed it to 3-0 at 7:44 of the third period with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Zucker scored a power-play goal at 17:42 to cut it to 3-1 with a redirection of Rasmus Dahlin’s point shot.

Zucker, who had a hat trick and an assist in a 6-5 overtime loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, extended his road goal streak to five games.

“We've got character in this room. Maybe the execution isn't there, but I like a lot of people in this group,” Reimer said. “Unfortunately, sometimes you don't have your best. That goes for everyone. Sometimes, I don't got my best. I thought we had a good push in the third there and made it close.

“Unfortunately, you can't play 20 minutes and expect to win. But our response in the third was good, and I thought our game was coming.”

NOTES: Stone became the eighth-fastest active Canadian player to 600 NHL points (665 games) behind Connor McDavid (421 games), Sidney Crosby (430), Mitch Marner (548), Steven Stamkos (595), Nathan MacKinnon (599), John Tavares (645) and Jonathan Huberdeau (661). … Zucker’s road goal streak is the longest by a Sabres player since Jason Pominville (seven games) in 2006-07.