Connelly has memorable night in NHL debut

LAS VEGAS — It was a night Trevor Connelly will never forget.

The 20-year-old rookie forward made his NHL debut Tuesday with the Vegas Golden Knights against Chicago and along with the usual accoutrements that come with a first game — a rookie solo lap in the warmups, a nice ovation from the T-Mobile Arena crowd of 17,838 during the player introductions and his first time over the boards, Connelly got to live his dream.

With 4:38 remaining in the first period, Connelly got the puck on his stick and beat Spencer Knight for his first NHL goal. In doing so, he joined Cody Glass as the only first-round draft picks of the Golden Knights to score in their first game on opening night. Glass, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, scored in his debut in 2019. Connelly was taken by Vegas in the first round in 2024 at No. 19 overall.

Connelly was not made available to the media following the game. But his teammates and coach were thrilled for him.

“It’s great that he was able to do it in his first game, in front of his family,” said Knights coach Ryan Craig, whose own family was in the building to see him win his NHL head coaching debut. “He’s worked really hard to get to this point and it’s a credit to our player development people who’ve worked with Trevor since we drafted him here to help guide him and help him grow.”

He was mobbed by his teammates after he gave Vegas a 2-0 lead in what would ultimately finish as a 5-2 win over the Blackhawks, who were without their star center and captain, Connor Bedard but brought back legendary veteran Patrick Kane who’s 37 and helped the Hawks win the Stanley Cup three times.

But Tuesday was about the Knights, who were beginning their 10th season as an NHL franchise. Expectations, as always, are high and with Craig making his NHL head coaching debut, getting the 84-game season off on the right skate was important.

“I thought we carried our play from (training) camp into the first game,” Craig said. “We got a lot of contributions from a lot of people.”

Craig has Connelly skating with two veterans in center Tomas Hertl and forward Victor Olofsson on what is Vegas’ third line. Olofsson opening the scoring as a member of the second power play unit 9:30 into the game with a snipe from inside the left faceoff circle that flew over Knight’s shoulder and in.

Then came Connelly’s moment. He got to the front of the net and after Knight stopped Brayden McNabb’s shot from the blue line, Connelly was left unchecked and he beat Knight cleanly, going quickly from his backhand to his forehand for the finish.

“It was great to see the way the bench reacted when Trevor scored,” Craig said. “You can see how much his teammates like and support him.”

But Connelly wasn’t the only Knight to have a special opening night. Jack Eichel came into the season with 698 career points. He scored with 4:48 remaining in the second period to give Vegas a 3-1 lead. And coupled with his first-period assist on Olofsson’s goal, gave him 700 career points. He added another assist late as Mark Stone scored into an empty net with 2:33 to play.

“Not much honestly,” Eichel said when asked what achieving that milestone meant to him. “I’ve been really lucky and grateful to be part of this organization.

“I think those things kinda come organically. I’ve played with some great players in my career so it’s cool.”

And the timing was important as Chicago had played its way back into it, cutting the deficit to 2-1 on Jordan Greenway’s wrist shot 12:23 into the second.

The same thing happened in the third. Kane beat the defense to the puck and beat Carter Hart to cut the Vegas lead to 3-2 with just under 16 minutes remaining. However, 39 seconds later, Nic Dowd set up Noah Hanifin in the slot with a sweet between-the-legs drop pass and Hanifin scored to answer Kane’s goal and re-stake the Knights to their two-goal advantage.

Craig believed his bottom six forward group was capable of contributing offensively and with Connelly and Olofsson scoring and Dowd and Marc Gatcomb assisting on Hanifin’s goal, that’s a four-point evening for the third and fourth lines. Craig will take that all season long.

“I liked the way all our lines competed,” Craig said. “We’re trying to get a 200-foot mentality with how we want to play and I thought you saw that. Our D was active and involved and I thought we did a lot of good things.”

Multiple players had multiple points Tuesday. Eichel led the way with his goal and pair of assists. McNabb had two assists as did Shea Theodore and Ivan Barbashev.

But at the top of the list was Connelly. His overall performance was strong and Tuesday was the kind of launching point every young player hopes happens to him.

“It’s just incredible,” Eichel said of Connelly. “He’s been awesome all camp. He’s a big part of our locker room. Obviously he’s a special player, so really happy to see him get his first (goal). Definitely a night and a moment he’ll never forget. He seemed pretty contained and ready to play and I think you saw that.”