Cody Eakin posts career year for Golden Knights

Jonathan Marchessault’s competitive juices were still flowing after a loss in late February, and it’s in those moments when the Golden Knights left wing is the most honest.

First, he offered a scathing review of his team’s play that night.

But at the conclusion of his critique, Marchessault paid a teammate the ultimate compliment.

“We just don’t play for 60 minutes, we don’t work. There’s no excuses to not working,” Marchessault fumed on Feb. 22 following a 6-3 home loss to Winnipeg. “Everybody has control of how you’re going to work in a game. It’s not only one or two guys, it’s everybody.

“The only guy that probably works hard since the beginning of the year is Cody Eakin. Maybe we should learn a little bit more from him.”

Eakin capably stepped in as the second-line center for the first two months of the season when Paul Stastny went down with a right knee injury during the third game.

The 27-year-old went on to set a career best in goals (22) and points (41) without sacrificing the 200-foot game coach Gerard Gallant asks him to play.

“Cody shows up every night and plays hard,” Gallant said. “We like him a lot, he’s had an outstanding season and that’s what we need from him. He knows what we like. He knows we appreciate everything he’s does for us.”

Eakin had a five-game point streak (four goals, two assists) from Nov. 6 to Nov. 14 that was capped by a two-goal effort against Anaheim.

He notched two goals and an assist in a victory at Chicago on Nov. 27 and finished the month with seven goals and six assists in 13 games.

Eakin also was one of the Knights’ top penalty killers and won 51 percent of his faceoffs.

He finished with a plus-19 rating, which was second on the team behind defenseman Nate Schmidt.

“I want to be the hardest working guy,” Eakin said. “I want to try and constantly set that tone, when the team is going through a slump or even if they don’t need it.”

Eakin went on a mini-tear in March with six goals and joined the 20-goal club for the first time in his career March 23 against Detroit. It’s a mark he’s been chasing since he finished the 2014-15 season with 19 goals.

Eakin was stationed at the side of the net and he emphatically swept in a loose puck after Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard spilled a rebound.

“I had to get some opportunities and some good luck along the way to get it,” Eakin said. “It was one of the more easy goals to put in. It was a bit of a relief. I’m pretty happy with it. It was a shot from the point at the end of a power play and (Ryan Reaves) touched it in front and it just came right to me backdoor. There was no one within a few feet, so I dusted it off and made sure I put it in.

“I’ll remember it for a while.”

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Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.