Golden Knights fans held their collective breath when center Jack Eichel took a huge hit in the second period of Monday’s game and immediately went to the locker room.
It turns out he just needed a few minutes to himself.
“There’s no need to lay on the ice, so just get off the ice and go regroup,” he said after a 7-2 win over the Florida Panthers at T-Mobile Arena that gave the Knights a 2-0 series lead. “Just get up and go collect myself.”
Eichel said the wind was knocked out of him, but he quickly realized he would be able to return to the game. But because the incident happened late in the period, he waited for his teammates to join him in the locker room for intermission.
“Everyone comes in here and wants to know how you’re doing, and you just reassure them that you’re fine, and that’s sort of it,” he said. “Everyone’s taken a couple hits in their career. This is a physical game we play, so it’s all part of it.”
It didn’t take Eichel long to prove he was OK. On his first shift in the third period, he won a puck battle and sprung Jonathan Marchessault open with a pass that turned into an assist when Marchessault finished the play.
Marchessault, coach Bruce Cassidy and several other players cited Eichel’s return as a big lift.
“That’s the resiliency we have in that locker room,” Marchessault said. “It starts with your top guys and goes right through the lineup.”
As for the hit, several Knights players, including Eichel, said it appeared clean. It looked more brutal because it was so well-timed and Eichel was stumbling when he was hit.
“You’ve got to be aware of it,” Eichel said. “You’ve got to keep your head up. I’ll be fine.
“I’m gonna have to look at the hit again. But when I saw it briefly between periods, talking to guys, it probably was a clean hit. It’s a big collision. This is hockey. I kind of blame myself a bit. I lose the puck, and then I’m reaching for it and I trip, and he’s right there. You don’t want to put yourself in that position and, unfortunately, he finishes a good hit.”
Defenseman Alec Martinez said the optics of such a big collision were worse than the actual hit, which is what led to the ensuing scuffle.
“From the looks of it, it was relatively clean,” he said. “But you’ve got to stick up for your teammate, and then all of the other stuff ensues.”
Tkachuk, who was called for two misconduct penalties in the game and has three in the series, was unapologetic.
“I just came off the bench and saw him in the middle of the ice with his head down,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who you are, you shouldn’t be going through the middle with your head down. You’re going to get hit. I would get hit, too, if I had my head down in the middle.”
Supportive neighbors
Several Raiders players have attended the first two games of the series.
Coach Josh McDaniels said it’s good for his team and the city to have such energy around sports right now.
“It’s obviously a very exciting time for Las Vegas … with multiple pro sports teams and seeing them have success and supporting them the way that we’re trying to do,” he said. “(Our players) get excited when they see that’s what we’re trying to do. We all know what we’re trying to build here and the type of success we’re looking to have and hopefully sustain.”
Star wide receiver Davante Adams was front and center at both games. During the second intermission of Monday’s game, he cranked the rally siren in a Knights No. 17 jersey with his last name on the back.
His wife’s Instagram story also showed some behind the scenes footage of the experience, including Adams briefly playing the drums with the “Knight Line.”
Streaking
The Knights have scored at least five goals in three straight postseason games for the second time in franchise history, matching a run from Games 2 through 4 of the 2019 first-round series against the Sharks.
They have never done so in four straight games, either in the regular season or playoffs.
Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.
