Jack Eichel haunts former team again as Knights bump Sabres

Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist and Adin Hill made 23 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights moved into the NHL points lead with a 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Mark Stone and Tanner Laczynski also scored goals and Tanner Pearson had two assists for Vegas, which picked up its eighth victory in the last nine games. The Golden Knights, who improved to an NHL best 17-4-0 at home, leapfrogged the Winnipeg Jets (56) for the league lead in points with 57.

Jason Zucker scored a goal and James Reimer finished with 30 saves for Buffalo, which had a three-game win streak over the Golden Knights snapped.

Vegas took a 1-0 lead at the 4:53 mark of the first period. Laczynski, called up from Henderson, Nev., of the AHL to fill the lineup spot of ex-Sabre Victor Olofsson (illness), buried a rebound of a Brett Howden shot inside the left post for his third career goal and first with the Golden Knights. It was Laczynski's first goal since Dec. 5, 2022, against Colorado as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Stone made it 2-0 midway through the period on a delayed penalty when he tipped in Eichel's cross-ice pass into a wide-open right side of the net for his 600th career point.

Vegas clamped down defensively after that, holding Buffalo to just seven shots over the first 35:52 while finishing with a 26-10 advantage in shots on goal after two periods.

Eichel extended the lead to 3-0 at the 7:44 mark of the third period when he fired a wrist shot from the left face-off dot past Reimer's glove side for his fifth goal in four career games against his former team.

The Sabres pulled Reimer and cut the lead to 3-1 with 2:18 to go with a 6-on-4 power-play goal by Zucker, who deflected a point shot by Rasmus Dahlin past Hill.

--Field Level Media