3 takeaways: Hill stays hot, Knights bury Leafs early — PHOTOS
The Golden Knights jumped out to a commanding lead in the first period, but Bruce Cassidy didn’t think they played well defensively.
Good thing they had a red-hot Adin Hill patrolling the crease.
The goaltender made 16 of his 29 saves in the first period while his teammates jumped out to a three-goal lead, launching the Knights to a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena.
“We’re all one unit,” Hill said. “Whether it’s our forwards going, our D going or the goalies going, we all kind of feed off it. It’s momentum. I think every position is important out there. When the whole team is rolling, it has that snowball effect. It’s good to see.”
Hill, making his career-high 37th start, won his fourth straight start and third in a row since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off with Team Canada.
He didn’t start in the best-on-best tournament, but taking practice shots from his international teammates proved to be a good warmup for this home stretch. Hill is 3-0 with a league-best .967 save percentage and has allowed three goals since the league resumed play Feb. 20.
“I think our team’s playing pretty well,” Hill said. “Just trying to keep it simple, be on my feet as much as possible and be patient.”
Center Jack Eichel and defenseman Noah Hanifin had a goal and an assist each for the Knights (37-18-6) in their third straight win, all coming on a season-long five-game homestand.
The Knights also became the third team in the Western Conference to reach the 80-point mark, joining the Winnipeg Jets and Dallas Stars. Their sixth win in seven games also pushed their Pacific Division lead to six points over the Edmonton Oilers.
The Maple Leafs (38-21-3) entered Wednesday at 8-1-1 in their previous 10 games and atop the Atlantic Division. Toronto beat the Knights 3-0 in their last meeting at Scotiabank Arena on Nov. 20 with Joseph Woll posting a 31-save shutout.
Woll didn’t make it through the first period this time.
Center Tomas Hertl opened the scoring at 4:33 on a rebound, and center Brett Howden made it 2-0 with a backhand that squeaked through Woll’s glove at 11:18.
Eichel blasted a one-timer on the power play at 15:03 to make it 3-0.
Woll’s night ended on just seven shots, while Hill stopped 16. Three of them came on a penalty kill less than two minutes after Hertl’s goal.
“It goes without saying goaltending is so important,” Cassidy said. “We got the saves in the first, they didn’t, and that’s a big reason why we were able to win the game.”
Hanifin (17 seconds) and left wing Tanner Pearson (13:33) tacked on two more in the second period to make it 5-0.
Toronto captain Auston Matthews ended Hill’s shutout on the power play at 18:01 of the second.
The Knights struggled mightily with Toronto’s new-look checking style in their first meeting. Hill did all he could to keep them in it through two periods, but eventually ran out of gas.
“We knew a good hockey team was coming in,” left wing Brandon Saad said. “We needed to jump on them quickly, and that’s what we did.”
This time, the Knights jumped out to a lead and stymied the high-powered Toronto offense thanks to the play of their No. 1 goaltender.
This time of year is predicated on wins. The Knights are putting them together at the right time with the trade deadline looming Friday.
“We have 21 games left,” Hill said. “We want to stay atop the division and keep the momentum going one game at a time. At this point of the year, it’s all about building your game for the playoffs so that when you hit the playoffs, you’re flying high.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Dropping the gloves
The fireworks started long before the goals came.
Defenseman Zach Whitecloud and Maple Leafs left wing Matthew Knies dropped the gloves on the opening faceoff in what was an act of retaliation.
In the first meeting, Whitecloud connected with Knies up high in the neutral zone, causing him to miss two games.
Knies got the better of the tilt, but Whitecloud did his part by answering the bell.
“That’s one thing I love about the game,” Cassidy said. “It’s the right way to settle things sometimes as opposed to trying to get a guy when he’s not looking or jump him, stuff like that. They settled it and they moved on.”
2. Hanifin stays hot
The power-play reps continue to benefit Hanifin on the offensive side of things.
The defenseman recorded his third straight multipoint game, a career-high streak for him, giving him nine points in his past seven games. Seven of those have come in place of the injured Shea Theodore.
Hanifin’s confidence has soared since being moved to the top power-play unit. That’s rubbing off in other areas of his game. Scoring, right now, is at the top of the list.
3. Eichel nears records
Eichel’s two-point night gave him 74 on the season, putting him four away from tying center William Karlsson’s single-season record from the inaugural season.
His power-play goal marked the eighth time he’s reached 20 goals in a season, while his assist on Hanifin’s goal tied his career high of 54 set in 2018-19.
Eichel is also nearing his career high in points of 82, which was also set in the 2019 campaign with the Buffalo Sabres.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
