Golden Knights Postgame: Eichel Update, Miromanov Impressions & More

Call it a cleanup game. The Vegas Golden Knights cleaned up many areas of their game Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings and won 4-1. They are now 2-1-0 on their current four-game road trip, which ends on Monday in Boston. With a much better defensive game and a strong second period, concerns now shift to the health of Jack Eichel, who left the game in the third period.

Golden Knights Takeaways

Eichel Update

Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy did not have much to say about the status of Eichel.

"I saw him in there (the locker room), so that's good. If there is one person who wants to play in Boston on Monday, it's Jack. I'm sure he'll do everything in his power to get out there and help us if he can," said Cassidy.

Eichel's last shift came roughly eight minutes into the third period. The broadcast showed him in some discomfort with his left leg, but no hit or collision seemed to kickstart this injury. It seems as if Eichel may have pulled something in his leg.

With the Golden Knights, Eichel has had three significant injuries. The most infamous was his neck injury which he had artificial disk replacement surgery on. Eichel also broke his thumb, blocking a shot from Mackenzie Weegar in March of last season. He played through the injury then.

Most recently, Eichel was hit in the face with a puck that came off the stick of Nicolas Hague. This came in the Golden Knight's game Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Eichel missed a couple of shifts but returned. He has since worn a full-bubble shield after he had his eye stitched up ten times.

Defensive Details

Missing Alex Pietrangelo due to personal reasons, the Golden Knights struggled in their first two games without the veteran D. In their third game without Petro, the Golden Knights ran on alternative fuel and played a much better game defensively.

"I thought we were great tonight; we had a good all-around game… I thought we did a good job with our puck management and keeping their chances to a minimum to the outside," said Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill, who snapped his personal three-game losing streak.

Breakouts were much cleaner, defensemen were jumping in on offense, and the Red Wings were limited to chances from the outside.

Better Second Period

Second periods have been the Achilles heel for the Golden Knights so far this season. Entering tonight's game, they had a -6 goal differential in the frame. The VGK blew two 2-0 goal leads in their previous two games in the second period. 

Cassidy called out the team, saying that they need to do a better job acknowledging that they have the lead and anticipating pushback from the opposition. Against the Red Wings, the Golden Knights did just that, and Cassidy was impressed.

"The best part of the game, I thought, was that they had their push, and they got one. But after that, we got out, came back, and played a responsible professional road game," said coach Cassidy

Miromanov Impressions

Inserted in the lineup with Pietrangelo out, Daniil Miromanov made his season debut with the Golden Knights Saturday. He was absent on the scoresheet but made several wise plays both on offense and defense. Miromanov played 16:34 in total and had a shot on goal as well as two blocked shots.

Miromanov missed training camp coming off surgery in the offseason, so this was the first time coach Cassidy got to see him play in person.

"I had never seen him play other than from a couple of games I watched in Henderson on the computer. He moved the puck, had composure, and made the plays that he was supposed to. He's clean with the puck, defended well in good spots, so for a young guy, when you go out and play a clean hockey game like that and help the team win, those are positives," said Cassidy.

With the status of Pietrangelo unknown, having Miromanov as a reliable young defenseman is certainly a plus for the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knight's next game will be Monday against the still undefeated-at-home Boston Bruins at 4:00 p.m.