Golden Knights vs. Kraken: Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson Score Twice as Mark Stone Reaches 400 Points

The Vegas Golden Knights spent their first three games generating chances and leaving them on the table. On Tuesday night in Seattle, they finally cashed every chip they had.

Tomas Hertl and Victor Olofsson scored two goals apiece, Jack Eichel had a goal and three assists, and the Golden Knights beat the Seattle Kraken 6-2 at Climate Pledge Arena. Mark Stone added a goal and an assist to become just the third player to reach 400 points with Vegas, and the visitors were up 5-0 before Seattle got on the board. The night soured late, though, when Olofsson left after a hit into the boards that drew a major penalty.

Vegas Turns Patience Into a Blowout

The Golden Knights started on the penalty kill after Marc Gatcomb was called for boarding 15 seconds in, and Seattle had the better of the opening stretch. Hertl admitted as much afterward.

"It was a little slower start, (and we had a couple) PKs, but we did a (heck) of a job," Hertl said.

Then Vegas grabbed the game by the collar. At 13:02, Olofsson was tumbling to the ice and still got his stick on a Rasmus Andersson point blast, steering it past Joey Daccord for 1-0. Less than three minutes later, Brandon Montour was sent off for interference, and Vegas needed only nine seconds of the power play. Hertl beat Daccord's glove from the top of the crease at 15:58, with Stone and Eichel assisting, for a 2-0 lead.

The second period was a clinic. Olofsson struck again at 13:07, and Daccord will want that one back: the goalie got a piece of Hertl's centering feed, only to send it right to Olofsson in the slot, and Olofsson's snap shot went in off the left post for 4-0. With 31 seconds left in the period, Eichel finished a breakaway for 5-0, and Seattle's night in goal was over for Daccord, who stopped 16 of 21 shots. Philipp Grubauer took over to start the third.

"The second half of the first period and second we kind of take over," Hertl said.

Turning Point: A Broken Stick, a Shorthanded Dagger

Seattle's best chance to swing momentum came early in the second, with Nic Dowd in the box and Vegas shorthanded. Instead, Montour's stick exploded on a blue-line slap shot attempt, the puck squirted free, and Eichel was gone with Stone alongside him. One pass across later, Stone beat Daccord at 1:43, and it was 3-0.

That is the hockey version of showing up to a job interview and spilling coffee on the interviewer. Seattle was on the power play and came out of it down another goal.

"We've been getting the chances, just not finishing," Stone said. "If you keep playing that way, it's going to come."

Stone, Eichel and Hertl Fill the Box Score

Stone's goal and assist carried him to a major franchise milestone. Per NHL.com and the AP, he became the third player with 400 points for the Golden Knights, joining Jonathan Marchessault (417) and William Karlsson (403). The AP noted Marchessault is now with Nashville.

Eichel was everywhere. He picked up the secondary assist on Hertl's first goal, set up Stone's shorthanded strike, scored the breakaway goal and assisted on Hertl's second power-play goal. NHL.com noted he became the fifth American player to reach 10 points in a season in four games or fewer, joining Kevin Stevens, Jack Hughes, Auston Matthews and Andy Brickley.

"Some things went our way," Eichel said. "I thought our group played hard, and I really liked our effort."

Hertl finished with two goals, two assists and a plus-1 in 16:04. His second goal came on the power play at 9:43 of the third. Ivan Barbashev fed him down low, and Hertl showed the patience of a man with nowhere to be, holding the puck until Grubauer went down and then tucking it under the glove for 6-1.

Carter Hart made 25 saves on 27 shots for Vegas.

The Third Period Gets Ugly

Shane Wright got Seattle on the board at 4:52 of the third, set up by Kaapo Kakko, with a shot that clanged in off the right post. Then things boiled over.

At 8:03, Seattle's Ben Meyers sent Olofsson hard into the boards, earning a boarding major and a game misconduct. Olofsson left the game, and Vegas coach Ryan Craig said he was being evaluated.

"He left the game, so we don't love (the hit), but that's hockey," Craig said.

Montour and Stone fought at 9:21, with Montour also receiving a misconduct, and Ryan Winterton and Gatcomb dropped the gloves at 15:03. In between, Jared McCann scored on the power play at 15:00 for the 6-2 final, with Kakko collecting his second assist of the night.

Hertl was clear about what mattered most: "Hopefully it's nothing serious, because he had a (heck) of a start (to the season), and helped us win all three games."

Stats That Matter

• 5-0: Vegas' lead after two periods.
• 2-for-5: The Golden Knights' power play, plus a shorthanded goal.
• 43-22: Penalty minutes, Seattle vs. Vegas, in a game that turned chippy late.
• 400: Career points for Stone with Vegas, third in franchise history to reach the mark.
• 10 points: Eichel's total through four games, per NHL.com.

What It Means

Vegas improves to 3-1-0 and swept a two-game road trip, following Sunday's 3-2 win in Vancouver.

"It was a good road trip for us," Stone said.

The Golden Knights return home to face Toronto on Thursday, with Olofsson's status the biggest question mark.

Seattle drops to 2-2-0 after a 6-1 win over Calgary on Sunday, and NHL.com reported defenseman Ryan Lindgren also left with an upper-body injury after the first period. Coach Lane Lambert gave Vegas its due.

"You've got to give them credit, they're a good hockey team," Lambert said. "They came within two wins of the Stanley Cup last year."

Wright found a silver lining in his line's play: "I think we're playing confident with the puck, we're playing with speed. That's how we have to play."

The Kraken start a five-game road trip Friday in Detroit.

Closing Take

Vegas looked like a team that had been waiting three games to exhale. Eichel was dazzling, Hertl was clinical, and Stone joined an exclusive club in the franchise record book. The only thing that kept this from being a perfect night was Olofsson heading down the tunnel. Craig called it "a real good victory from Carter (Hart) all the way out," and for 50 minutes it was hard to argue.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and NHL.com; postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com.