3 takeaways from Golden Knights’ win: Jack Eichel saves day

Jack Eichel was still in the feeling out process with Golden Knights fans before Sunday.

With one flick of his wrists, he took their relationship to the next level.

Eichel produced his first signature moment with the Knights, scoring with 5.2 seconds remaining for a much-needed 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at T-Mobile Arena.

“That’s what you miss, is just making a difference and trying to help the team win,” Eichel said. “As a competitor, you miss competing and being out there and just having moments like that. Scoring goals, setting guys up, helping win hockey games.”

The Knights won their second straight and moved four points ahead of Edmonton for third place in the Pacific Division. And they can thank their struggling power play, which came through after Michael Amadio drew a tripping penalty on Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot in the final minute.

The puck worked around the perimeter until it went to Jonathan Marchessault along the goal line. He fed Max Pacioretty in the right faceoff for a one-timer, but the shot was blocked.

The puck pinballed to Eichel in the left circle, and he wristed a shot past Senators goalie Anton Forsberg on the short side for his third goal in nine games since being activated following artificial disk replacement surgery on his neck.

The announced crowd of 17,909 exploded, and Eichel was mobbed by his teammates after the Knights snapped an 0-for-16 drought with their first power-play goal since Feb. 18 against Los Angeles.

It was the second-latest go-ahead goal in team history behind Shea Theodore (59:57) on Dec. 19, 2017.

“There’s a handful of guys that can corral a puck, get it off that quickly and stick it in the back of the net in that spot in the world, and he’s one of them,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s exactly why you go get him.”

Marchessault opened the scoring for the Knights in the second period with his team-leading 24th goal on a breakaway.

Brady Tkachuk answered for Ottawa about two minutes later on a power play, poking his own rebound past goalie Robin Lehner.

“Definitely it was a must-win tonight,” Marchessault said. “We’re chasing a couple teams, and we want to make it to the playoffs. It’s that time of year when good teams find a way to win. Tonight we did.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Lehner wins duel

The Knights have struggled recently in third periods, being outscored 13-4 in 10 games since the All-Star break. But Lehner stepped up in the final 20 minutes when he was needed most, making 16 stops.

His best came early in the period when Nick Paul walked out of the corner and fed Zach Sanford in the slot. Lehner flashed the glove and denied Sanford, who entered with six goals in 14 career games against the Knights, to keep the score tied 1-1.

Lehner tied a season high with 39 saves.

“You always try to keep positive and keep trying your best to keep the team in the game,” Lehner said. “We just have to kind of get back to our Vegas swagger and confidence. Just knowing we’re going to win and keep playing our game.”

2. Pacioretty returns

The struggling offense received a lift with Pacioretty’s return after a four-game absence from a lower-body injury.

Pacioretty was back on the top line with Eichel and finished with five shots on goal (eight attempts) in 16:53 of ice time to go with his assist on the winning goal.

The Knights fired 42 shots at Forsberg and won for the second time this season when scoring two goals or fewer.

“He gave us a spark,” DeBoer said. “Tough for anybody to sit out and jump into a game like that, and he’s hardly practiced. He worked really hard, and he worked away from the puck, and he created turnovers for us.”

3. Sending a message

Winger Evgenii Dadonov was demoted to the fourth line to open Sunday and given a handful of shifts on the third line in the third period with little to show for it.

After being acquired during the offseason for defenseman Nick Holden and a third-round pick in the 2022 draft, Dadonov hasn’t lived up to his $5 million salary cap hit.

He’s posted two assists in his past 17 games and has 10 goals and 12 assists in 55 games.

“With the different names we’ve got on the board right now, we’ve got a lot of interchangeable guys,” DeBoer said. “Whatever line you’re on, it’s more the opportunity to contribute, and I thought he contributed tonight.”

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