Jack Eichel’s two-goal, one-assist performance carries Golden Knights past Mammoth

Jack Eichel had chances to end his scoring drought sooner than this.

In Tuesday’s third period against the New York Rangers, he hit a crossbar on the power play. Seconds later, his shot bounced off the “posterior” of goaltender Igor Shesterkin, as coach Bruce Cassidy eloquently put it.

Eichel was due. It took two days, but the Golden Knights’ star broke through with two goals and an assist to push the team to a 4-1 win over the Utah Mammoth at Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.

Eichel scored twice in the second period for his first goals in 10 games, finding the back of the net for the first time since his 29th birthday Oct. 28 against the Carolina Hurricanes when he also scored twice.

“Been fighting it a little bit,” Eichel said. “I had some chances in the last game. Haven’t seen the puck go in the net, so it was good to see that (first) one go in and kind of carry that momentum into the rest of the second and the third.

He added an assist for his fourth three-point game of the season.

Defenseman Ben Hutton scored for the second straight game, and right wing Braeden Bowman had a goal and an assist for the Knights (10-4-6) to push their point streak to five games (3-0-2).

Goaltender Akira Schmid made 25 saves for his third straight win and improved to 5-0-2 in his last seven starts. Schmid tied his career-high with his ninth win in his 12th appearance this season. He went 9-5-2 in 18 appearances with the New Jersey Devils in 2022-23.

Utah (10-8-3) dropped to 2-6-3 in its last 11 games after starting 8-2-0.

Eichel opened the scoring at 3:09 of the second after a lengthy shift that started at four-on-four. After the Knights cycled it around, Eichel hopped over the boards, followed a rebound and scored into an open net.

“Hang around the front of the net long enough, keep going there, and you’ll get rewarded,” Cassidy said. “Good for him.”

Hutton scored 19 seconds later off a failed clear from Utah to make it 2-0.

Eichel added his second with 3:09 left in the period after receiving a stretch pass from Bowman, cutting to the middle and beating Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka with the backhand.

“I thought we played well in their end, played good off the cycle, played good off the shot,” Eichel said. “It was one of those games where we wanted to take away some of their offense, but I thought we broke the puck out. Tons of credit to our defensemen. … It allowed us to transition on offense and I think when we’re doing that, we’re a dangerous team.”

Here are three takeaways from the win:

1. Hutton’s on fire

Hutton went nearly two years between scoring goals when he scored Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.

Scoring in back-to-back games? That’s even more rare. It’s the first time Hutton has found the back of the net in consecutive games since Nov. 6-8, 2018, as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

The Knights were just starting their second season in the league.

“Just getting down into good scoring areas,” Hutton said, with both goals coming from the left circle. “(Cole Reinhardt) made a great play on the wall there, found me and I just put it in the back of the net.”

2. So, too, is Bowman

The 22-year-old Bowman continues to make the most of his opportunity.

Bowman became the first player in Knights’ history to score three goals in his first five NHL games with his tap-in off the feed from Eichel 45 seconds into the third period to make it 4-1.

The undrafted forward has been impressive since being called up from Henderson on Nov. 12. Other than the points, he’s been the perfect complement on the top six in place of injured captain Mark Stone.

“We’re joking around now about the Calder race, so hopefully he can keep it going,” Reinhardt said.

3. Dragged into the fight

Reinhardt introduced himself to Utah in the first period with a big, clean hit on center Kevin Stenlund that sent him to the locker room.

Mammoth left wing Brandon Tanev retaliated with a cross-check on Reinhardt. It’s the fourth straight game he’s drawn a penalty.

“I guess some of it comes with luck and the game, but today it was probably from the hit,” Reinhardt said. “They wanted some retaliation.”

The Knights will be back at Delta Center on Monday after facing the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Reinhardt is expecting some liberties his way.

“I’m probably gonna have to do something or protect myself in some sort of way,” Reinhardt said. “It might happen.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.