Eichel scores in return, Golden Knights outmatch Canucks in regular season finale

VANCOUVER -- The Vegas Golden Knights complete the regular season on Wednesday with a series sweep over the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1 at Rogers Arena. 

With tonight’s win, the Golden Knights have achieved their third 50 win season in their franchise’s history. The first two times they achieved this milestone, they made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

"I think we were consistent throughout the year," Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel said. "After the Four Nations break we played really good hockey, and that was our goal... I think the depth of our team and just being able to roll over four lines is super important, especially as you go into the playoffs."  

Entering their final game, it was announced that another round of players were given the day off such as forwards: Tomas Hertl, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, Brandon Saad; defensemen: Noah Hanifin, Zach Whitecloud; goalie: Adin Hill.  

"We got good players up and down the lineup," Vegas Golden Knights' head coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I think we're a well conditioned team too. The guys that stayed in from last night were good." 

Vegas also did have some returning names enter the lineup including Eichel and defenseman Alex Pietranglo. 

The Canucks drew first blood a little over eight minutes in the opening period. Hovering over Golden Knights' net minder Akira Schmid near the crease, forward Pius Suter scored on the rebound from Conor Garland’s shot from the low slot.

Vegas had a rough go to finish the first period, being held without a shot for the last nine and half minutes. It was the seventh time since the Four Nations face off where the Golden Knights were down at the end of the opening period.

It was a far more solid second period for the Golden Knights, outshoot the Canucks 12-5. And defensively, they settled in and smothered Vancouver whenever they entered the Vegas end of the ice.    

With less than 90 seconds in the period, forward Victor Olofsson tied it for Vegas. Starting from the point, Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore cycled the puck down into the zone, and after going off a Canuck, William Karlsson wrapped around the net with the puck and connects on a backhand pass to welly set up Olofsson for a one-timer passed Canuck netminder Kevin Lankinen. 

After finding the equalizer, Vegas continued to smother the Canucks during the third period on both sides of the ice. 

The Pacific Division Champions managed to score three goals during the period. Forward Pavel Dorofeyev grabbed the game winner and his team leading 35th goal of the season, snapping the puck under the glove of Lankinen.

During the halfway point, Eichel scored his 28th goal during his return from injury, deflecting Ben Hutton shot from the point. Forward Cole Schwindt notched his first career NHL goal with an empty-net tally to seal the game. 

"It's something so surreal to me," Schwindt said when asked about his first NHL goal. "It's something that I've dreamt of ever since I was a kid. For it to finally come true and share it with these guys, it's definitely rewarding."

Schmid made his third start for the Golden Knights and looked very serviceable, even though he didn’t face many shots tonight. The 24-year-old made 16 saves tonight and finished with a .941 SV %. 

"I thought we played well in front of him," Cassidy said when asked about Schmid's performance. "We didn't hang him out to dry, didn't force him to make high end saves time after time... I like his calmness, his composure. I'm not a goalie guru in terms of the technique part, but he looks like he's playing between his posts very well and not out of control either." 

Upon an announcement by the league for the upcoming dates and start times, the Golden Knights next battle will be the opening round of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild.