*Photo from Knights on Ice*
The former captain in Buffalo welcomed the adversity and responded strongly. Chandler Stephenson had a goal and 3 assists, Jack Eichel had a hat trick, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Buffalo Sabres with a 7-4 victory on Thursday night in Buffalo.
Booed by the Buffalo crowd in his second game back since being traded, Eichel put up one of his best games this season, adding an assist on top of his 3 goals for a 4 point night. Vegas stayed red hot as a team, winning their 9th straight game to improve to 13-2-0, currently the best record in the NHL.
Vegas captain Mark Stone said of the early success that it's "Probably the best start in my career that I've ever been on. Knock on wood, good health. Great goaltending, our defense has been good. Jack's kind of leading the way offensively, but if you look down on the board, so many guys chipping in offensively. So, it was a good game for us and it's a good start. We've got to go home and carry the momentum."
On the power play 5:44 into the game, Stephenson scored his 6th goal of the season, giving the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead with assists from Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Pietrangelo. Tage Thompson tied it for the Sabres with a power play goal of his own, coming at the 16:23 mark of the first period.
Phil Kessel got the scoring started in the second period, scoring his second goal of the season to give Vegas a 2-1 lead. Casey Middlestadt answered back for the Sabres with a power play goal, making it a 2-2 game. Paul Cotter scored at the 17:08 mark of the second to put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2 after two periods.
In the 3rd period, Pietrangelo and Eichel started with goals before Thompson answered back for the Sabres, making the score 5-3. Eichel then scored two goals, one even strength and one with an empty net, with Rasmus Asplund scoring for the Sabres while shorthanded, making the final 7-4 in favor of Vegas.
Eichel said of the win in Buffalo that "It's satisfying. It's satisfying to come in here and win. I think that was the most important thing for our group tonight. They were desperate and they gave us everything we could handle and we found a way to make the plays when we needed to."
Drawing the start for Vegas was Logan Thompson, who picked up the win. Thompson stopped 31 out of the 35 shots he saw from the Sabres, posting a .886 save percentage. The win boosts Thompson's record to 8-2-0 to open the season.
Across the ice from Thompson was Eric Comrie for the Sabres. Comrie got stuck with the loss, saving only 29 out of the 35 shots Vegas sent on goal, which was good for a .829 save percentage. Comrie now holds a 4-6-0 record in 10 starts.
Sabres head coach Don Granato said of the loss that "We gave them way too much. I thought Comrie was great through the early part; the breakaways we gave up were all self-inflicted. He was very good there and there was enough opportunity for us to make it, to do good things. We just didn't convert, didn't clean out the sloppiness."
Up next, both teams get back in action with Saturday night home matches. Thompson is the expected starter when the Golden Knights face the St. Louis Blues, while Craig Anderson is in line to start for the Sabres as they take on the Boston Bruins.
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