3 takeaways: Knights win 6th straight despite late goalie scratch
It’s not the first time Adin Hill has played twice in two days — though the last time he thinks he did was when he was in the American Hockey League.
Hill felt good being in net for the second time in 22 hours, and he certainly played like it.
Hill made 23 saves, and the Golden Knights won their sixth straight game, a 3-1 victory over the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.
“Normal day for as far as a game day goes, but I just found out after warmups that I was playing,” Hill said. “I just went out and played. It was fun.”
That wasn’t the plan.
Goaltender Ilya Samsonov was supposed to start Saturday but was a late scratch. Hill got the second straight start after making 18 saves Friday in Chicago.
Coach Bruce Cassidy said “something tightened up” on Samsonov during warmups, which prompted Hill to go in.
The TV broadcast noted Samsonov left the bench during the third period.
“Sammy just wasn’t able to go,” Cassidy said. “It was not going to be Hilly’s start. We tend not to play a guy back-to-back, especially this time of year, but that was the choice we were left with.”
It turned out to be a good choice.
Hill won for the 10th time in his past 12 starts (10-1-1) and is 9-1-1 since the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Only Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (10) and St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (10) have more wins than Hill since Feb. 22.
“I feel like I’m just playing better,” Hill said. “A little more confident, and I feel like our team’s playing a lot better, too.”
Right wing Reilly Smith scored a go-ahead power-play goal with 13:35 remaining, and center Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist to give him 93 points on the season.
The Knights (45-20-8) swept their three-game road trip and outscored their opponents 13-5 with Hill in the crease for all three wins.
“Good on (Hill),” Cassidy said. “Especially a day like today where there’s no morning skate, you’re a little bit out of your routine, but I thought he responded well early. He was ready to go and obviously was a big reason we won.”
Cassidy said he’s not sure if Samsonov’s injury is something to be concerned about. He’ll be evaluated Sunday.
But the Knights will be off until Tuesday, when a big divisional game against the Edmonton Oilers awaits at T-Mobile Arena.
Their No. 1 goalie is playing well at the right time.
“There’s still room for improvement, for sure,” Hill said. “We haven’t been as strong on the road this year as we wanted to be. It’s huge to close out the year with some road wins. This trip was a great example of that.”
Three takeaways from the win:
1. Smith’s winning goal
The Original Misfit is finally on the board.
Smith’s power-play goal early in the third period was his first since the Knights reacquired him from the New York Rangers on March 6.
Left wing Victor Olofsson’s initial shot was saved, but the puck went over Predators goalie Justus Annunen’s head and Smith jammed in the rebound to break the 1-1 tie.
Smith had four assists in 11 games since returning to the Knights.
“It’s definitely nice to help the team win,” Smith said. “A little bit of relief to see it go in.”
2. March Madness
It has been the Month of Eichel.
The Knights’ star will end March with points in 13 of 14 games, scoring a league-high 23 points in that span.
Eichel was named the league’s second star of the week this past week.
He now has six goals in his past five games.
3. Knights win shorthanded
More notably in the Knights’ three wins this trip was the fact they earned them without center Tomas Hertl (upper body) and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (lower body).
Cassidy did not have updates on either player throughout the trip, saying there should be a clearer picture when they return to practice Monday.
The Knights won all three games without their leading goal scorer and No. 1 defenseman, another display of where confidence is at with nine games to go.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
