Jack Eichel recorded his 300th career assist in the second period of Monday night’s 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Eichel took the Vegas Golden Knights‘ first two shots of the game — and he scored on both of them.
The first one came just 1:51 into the game — his 28th of the season and ninth on the power play. Noah Hanifin (30) and Logan Thompson (3) earned the assists.
The second goal came at the 8:06 mark — Eichel’s 29th of the year. Jonathan Marchessault set up the play beautifully en route to his 26th assist of the season.
The Canucks scored two power-play goals to tie the game up before the first intermission, but Jack Eichel wasn’t done.
Halfway through the second period, he recorded his 300th career assist on a power-play goal by Hanifin. Tomas Hertl earned the secondary assist — his first point in his first game with the Golden Knights.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the Golden Knights gave up two goals late in the second period. The Canucks won 4-3 and tied the season series up at 2-2.
Jack Eichel Enters Rare Territory
Eichel is the 91st active NHL player to record 300 assists in his career, according to Quant Hockey. He joins a list of only 571 NHL players all-time.
That might not sound too impressive, but more than 7,500 players have played at least one game in the NHL since 1917. That puts Eichel in the top 10%.
He’s also the third active VGK player to reach 300 assists — joining Alex Pietrangelo (341 assists) and Mark Stone (355 assists).
Other former VGK players with at least 300 career helpers include Phil Kessel (579), Paul Stastny (529), David Perron (454), and Max Pacioretty (336).
Eichel has at least 30 assists in all but two of his years in the NHL — those two seasons being his final year in Buffalo and first year in Vegas. He had 27 assists in 55 games during that two-year span.
He has 29 goals, 34 assists, and 63 points in 58 games played this season, including 10 goals, nine assists, and 19 points in 14 games since March 9.
The Vegas Golden Knights have five games remaining before the playoffs start, but they have yet to clinch a spot.
The good news is that Jack Eichel is coming alive at the right time and appears ready to lead his team to another playoff berth.
Their next opportunity for a win will come on Wednesday (April 10) vs. the Edmonton Oilers — their final road game of the season.
The game starts at 5:30 p.m. PT.
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