Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts has been named the NHL First Star of the Month for October. The honour comes during the month where he signed an eight-year contract extension worth $108 million.
Eichel’s statistics for the month of October
In 11 games, Eichel had eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points. He was a +5 with nine power-play points, two game-winning goals, 47 shots on goal, 98 faceoff wins, six blocked shots, four hits, eight takeaways, and 24 giveaways.
Eichel’s two game winning goals
Eichel’s first game-winning goal came on October 14 in a 4-2 Golden Knights win over the Calgary Flames. Eichel scored from Ivan Barbashev of Moscow, Russia and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon of Val D’Or, Quebec at 6:38 of the third period. At the time, the Golden Knights went up by a score of 3-2. For Lauzon, it was his first point as a Golden Knight. He was traded from the Nashville Predators to the Golden Knights on June 30 with Colton Suissons for defenseman Nicolas Hague and a third round pick in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft.
Eichel’s second game-winning goal came on October 28 in a 6-3 Golden Knights win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Eichel scored from Barbashev with four minutes and 59 seconds left in the third period to put Vegas up 4-3 at the tine. It was the first of two goals for Eichel in the game as he scored an insurance marker from Mitch Marner of Markham, Ontario and Barbashev only two minutes and 35 seconds later.
Two four-point games
Twice this season Eichel has had four points in a game. The first time came on October 8 in a 6-5 Golden Knights shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on opening night. Eichel had one goal and three assists for four points. The second four-point night came on October 18 in a 6-1 Golden Knights win over the Calgary Flames. In this game, Eichel had four assists.
Three-way tie for first place
The Golden Knights are in a three-way tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the surging Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers. All three teams have 15 points, bit it should be noted that the Golden Knights and Ducks have played two fewer games than the Oilers. Vegas has a record of six wins, two regulation losses and three losses in extra time. Vegas also has the best goals for and against ratio in the division at +7.
