Eichel, Hertl each has 4 points to help Golden Knights cruise past Kraken

SEATTLE -- Tomas Hertl had two goals and two assists, and Jack Eichel had a goal and three assists for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 6-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Victor Olofsson scored twice for Vegas before leaving with an injury at 8:03 of the third period after being hit into the boards by Ben Meyers. Meyers received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding.

“He left the game, so we don’t love (the hit), but that’s hockey,” Vegas coach Ryan Craig said. “I’m proud of our response, and he’s getting evaluated now.”

Said Hertl: “It’s gravy to win like that, that but it’s tough to see ‘Oley’ going down. Hopefully it’s nothing serious, because he had a (heck) of a start (to the season), and helped us win all three games.”

Mark Stone had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (3-1-0), who won both games of their two-game road trip. Carter Hart made 25 saves.

“It was a good road trip for us,” Stone said. “It’s good to finally get rewarded tonight, too, right? I thought we had quite a few chances in the first three games, but we didn’t bury the teams when we had our chances. Tonight, we just kept pushing.”

Shane Wright and Jared McCann scored, and Kaapo Kakko had two assists for the Kraken (2-2-0), who had won their previous game 6-1 over the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Joey Daccord allowed five goals on 21 shots in the first two periods before being replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who made six saves in relief.

“You’ve got to give them credit, they’re a good hockey team,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “They came within two wins of the Stanley Cup last year. Yes, we beat them three times last year as well, but they play the game, and they play it a certain way, and it's pretty simple. And there's a lot for us to pick up from that.”

Olofsson gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 13:02 of the first period, deflecting Rasmus Andersson’s slap shot from the right point past Daccord’s right pad while falling to the ice.

Hertl extended it to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 15:58. Eichel sent a pass from the left corner to Hertl at the top of the crease, and he one-timed it under Daccord’s glove.

“It was a little slower start, (and we had a couple) PKs, but we did a (heck) of a job,” Hertl said. “The second half of the first period and second we kind of take over. We played behind, wear them down in their own zone, we make some good looks and score on the power play.”

Stone scored short-handed to make it 3-0 at 1:43 of the second period. Seattle defenseman Brandon Montour’s stick broke on an attempted slap shot, creating a 2-on-1 rush opportunity for Vegas. Eichel fed Stone in the left circle, and he one-timed it off Daccord’s right pad and in.

“We had a lot of looks,” Stone said. “We’ve been getting the chances, just not finishing. If you keep playing that way, it’s going to come.”

Olofsson’s second goal of the game pushed it to 4-0 at 13:07. Daccord deflected Hertl’s centering feed, but it went right onto Olofsson’s stick in the slot, and he snapped it off the left post and in.

Eichel then scored on the breakaway to make it 5-0 at 19:29.

“Some things went our way,” Eichel said. “You get a couple touches on things, and sometimes the puck finds you and finds the back of the net. I thought our group played hard, and I really liked our effort.”

Wright cut it to 5-1 at 4:52 of the third period, taking Kakko’s pass at the top of the slot and firing it off the right post and in.

“Feeling good with the linemates (Berkly Catton and Kakko),” Wright said. “I think we’re playing confident with the puck, we’re playing with speed. That’s how we have to play.”

Hertl scored on the power play to make it 6-1 at 9:43 of the third, taking a pass from Ivan Barbashev at the goal line, waiting for Grubauer to drop and slipping it under his glove.

“Special teams are a big part of it,” Eichel said. “Power play came up big for us as well.”

McCann scored a power-play goal at 15:00 of the third with a snap shot from the left circle over Hart’s blocker for the 6-2 final.

“We’re continuing to build our game,” Craig said. “I liked the way that we stayed with the game, I liked the way we stuck together. Just a real good victory from Carter (Hart) all the way out.” 

NOTES: Stone became the third player to reach 400 points with the Golden Knights, joining Jonathan Marchessault (417) and William Karlsson (403). … Eichel became the fifth American player to reach the 10-point mark in a season in four games or fewer. The only others to achieve the feat: Kevin Stevens (three games in 1990-91), Jack Hughes (four in 2023-24), Auston Matthews (four GP in 2018-19) and Andy Brickley (four GP in 1991-92). … Seattle defenseman Ryan Lindgren left the game with an upper-body injury after the first period. Lambert did not have an update on his status after the game.