A four-game winning streak is nothing new to the Pacific Division-leading Las Vegas Golden Knights, who tote their fifth surge of at least that many games into Friday’s visit to the Chicago Blackhawks.
A varied attack, however, has been novel for Vegas since the 4 Nations Face-Off, as the club has averaged 3.8 goals in the past 15 games.
“We’re scoring in different ways. We’re getting contributions from up and down the lineup,” the Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel said. “All those things are positive and what you want to see this time of year.”
Vegas (43-20-8, 94 points) leads the Los Angeles Kings by five points for the top spot in the Pacific entering play Thursday.
Eichel remained a primary reason why. He netted a hat trick during Tuesday’s 5-1 victory at Minnesota to stretch his point streak to four games and his goal streak to three. Eichel has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 12 March games, and his 90 points lead the club by a wide margin.
“He’s just a good player,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He stands out every night.”
Vegas hopes the offense keeps churning amid up-and-down developments on the blue line. While Alex Pietrangelo (upper-body) was a late scratch in Minnesota, fellow defenseman Shea Theodore returned from a 14-game absence with an upper-body injury, earning an assist while skating for 20:08 of ice time.
“It felt like a first game back,” Theodore said. “I felt good for the most part. Good to get the first one out of the way.”
Chicago (21-42-9, 51 points) has lost eight of nine and has the second-fewest points in the NHL.
After erupting for a season-best seven goals during Sunday’s home rout of Philadelphia, the Blackhawks fell short Wednesday in their bid to win consecutive games at United Center.
Chicago outshot New Jersey 24-21 but lost 5-3. The Blackhawks have lost seven straight games by more than one goal.
“I think we did a lot of things, just working on our game and getting better as the season comes to an end here,” Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar said. “Just fixing up some things and carrying the momentum into next season.
“I think there’s a lot more we still need to work on and a lot of things we need to come together as a team and do better. Just sticking together is the biggest part of that.”
Continued contributions from rookie defenseman Artyom Levshunov have been a bright spot during a rough stretch run. Levshunov had two assists against New Jersey for his first career multi-point effort and has earned four assists in eight career games.
“His progression has been good in a lot of areas,” Chicago interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “Is he perfect? No. But … the progression’s been good.”
Friday’s game will decide the season series between the Golden Knights and Blackhawks, with both clubs registering previous victories on home ice. Chicago won 5-3 on Jan. 18 before Vegas responded with a 7-5 victory on Feb. 27.
–Field Level Media
