Golden Knights Rout Bruins; Eichel, Dorofeyev, Barbashev Hit Milestones

After a sub-par road trip, the Vegas Golden Knights (40-20-8) needed a dominant win to cleanse their palettes. Through 20 minutes, it looked like they were on their way to another out-of-sync loss. However, they found their game in the final two frames and routed the Boston Bruins (30-31-9) by a decisive 5-1 margin.

Early on, the Golden Knights struggled with disconnect. The perfect example came around a minute into the first period when Jack Eichel tried a bank pass to Mark Stone. The pass handcuffed Stone, and David Pastrňák swooped in to corral the puck. Pastrňák and Pavel Zacha were poised to have a 2-on-1 against Zach Whitecloud, but Zacha was a hair offsides.

That’s how the rest of the first period went for the Golden Knights. Nothing was working. Passes were off-target, players were out of sync, and they could not generate much offense.

The Golden Knights broke through on the power play in the second period. Mark Stone made a strong play along the boards, and Noah Hanifin fed Jack Eichel. Eichel passed to Pavel Dorofeyev, who rifled a shot past Jeremy Swayman. 

Dorofeyev’s goal gave the Golden Knights life. They seemed to shake off their rust and got better as the game went along.

With less than a minute remaining in the second period, Pavel Dorofeyev extended the Golden Knights’ lead. Tomáš Hertl won the offensive zone face off over to Brandon Saad, who bumped it back to Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo held the puck and threaded a cross-ice pass to Dorofeyev, who picked his spot and beat Swayman far side. 

In the third period, the Golden Knights started to really dominate the game. They were suffocating defensively, and instead of sitting back with their lead, they continued to press.

At 5:47 in the third, the Golden Knights had a 3-on-1. William Karlsson skated through center ice with the puck and passed to Brett Howden. Howden entered the zone, waited, and beat Swayman high blocker for his 19th goal of the season. 

From then on, it was all Golden Knights. They came in waves, barely giving the Bruins a moment to breathe before launching another attack. 

The Golden Knights struck again at 10:21 in the third, again off the face off. Tomáš Hertl won the draw, and Zach Whitecloud settled the puck and sent it back to Noah Hanifin. Marat Khusnutdinov got a piece of Hanifin’s shot, but Jeremy Swayman could not cover the puck. Brandon Saad chipped the puck over to Pavel Dorofeyev, who completed the hat trick. 

Nothing went right for the Bruins on Thursday. Even when they had the puck, they couldn’t do much with it.

David Pastrňák lost the puck in the Golden Knights zone, and Jack Eichel collected it. He carried through the neutral zone, cut around Andrew Peeke, and threaded a backhand pass to Ivan Barbashev, who fired it past Swayman. 

With 2:11 remaining in the game, the Bruins ended Adin Hill’s shutout bid. David Pastrnak got the puck below the goal line and drifted up to the left circle. He threaded a cross-ice pass to Morgan Geekie, who lifted it past Hill.

Geekie’s goal was the only sign of the Bruins’ struggle; the Golden Knights left them thoroughly subdued. The Bruins’ night ended, not with a roar, but with a whimper.

Golden Knights Game Notes

Jack Eichel blocked a shot while on the power play in the second period. He went down the tunnel but was on the ice to start the third. It didn’t seem to bother him for the rest of the night.

What a game for Pavel Dorofeyev. He entered the night with 27 goals; halfway through the third period, he was a thirty-goal scorer for the first time. He recorded the second hat trick of his career and selected a hat to keep. And Dorofeyev gets extra style points for scoring two of his three goals with gauze shoved up his nose, as the officials missed a high sticking call against him.

“He’s got a great shot, great release, and good deception,” said goaltender Adin Hill postgame. “He just finds those right spots on the ice. You can’t teach it.”

Adin Hill played very well, and it’s a shame that the Golden Knights couldn’t get him the shutout. They played strong defensively; this was the 10th game that the Golden Knights allowed 20 or fewer shots.

With two assists against the Bruins, Jack Eichel hit 82 points on the season. He tied his career-high and continues to add to his franchise single-season record. Thursday’s game was also his 27th multi-point game of the season.

Ivan Barbashev’s goal was his 20th of the season. This is the second time he’s scored 20 in a season and the first time since 2021-22.

William Karlsson played his first game since January 20th. He finished the night with 15:54 ice time, two shots, and an assist.

The Bruins got a power play opportunity at 6:49 in the first period. It was a very, very bad call. John Beecher toe-picked, and the officials sent Mark Stone to the box for being in the immediate vicinity. The Golden Knights killed it off, and they did it very well. Because they won, Bruce Cassidy was able to joke about it postgame.

“I’ve talked to [Pavel Dorofeyev] about [second effort play penalties], I don’t want him to lose that. ‘Just be mindful, you’ve got to be a little more in charge of your stick as a 24-year old, because you will not get the same break that maybe Mark Stone will on a similar call. That’s just the nature of officials.’ Although, now that I’m thinking about it, Mark Stone call, right?” Pause for laughter.  “Did I just put myself in a spot where I’m going to go on a rant?”