LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Vegas Golden Knights have been on a roll with playoff hockey right around the corner, winning six straight with nine games left in the regular season.
Sitting comfortably atop Pacific standings and ranking third in the Western Conference (behind the Jets and the Stars), the Knights are at 98 points on the season.
Jack Eichel on the Knights' plan for the home stretch
The only times Vegas has reached 100 standing points in the regular season was in 2017-18 and 2022-23. The Knights went on to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in both seasons.
A big reason for the Knights' recent success is the play of star center Jack Eichel, who has tallied 13 points in VGK's six-game win streak.
The 28-year-old recorded four goals and two assists over the three-game road trip Vegas just swept. He netted two goals and dished out five assists in the three-game home-stand Vegas swept the week prior.
After practice on Monday, Eichel caught up with Channel 13's Nick Walters.
Watch the full interview with Eichel here
NICK WALTERS: How do you feel like you've really found your groove lately?
JACK EICHEL: Normally when the team plays well, guys are following that. For me, it's just been a factor of good team play and playing with good players. Trying to keep things simple and play my game. Sometimes you get some good bounces, things go your way, and you end up on the stat sheet.
WALTERS: Last week, you said that this is the best you've felt in a long time and a big reason why is a clean bill of health, only missing one game and that was due to illness.
EICHEL: It's good for your mentality. You're in the lineup every night, you're expecting yourself to play. I think that that helps you build confidence in your game what you're doing. You kind of get in that flow of game after game, and it allows your game to continue to grow. In past years, if you miss an extended period of time, it might take a little time to get that rhythm back and feel comfortable. If you're in the lineup every night, I feel like you have that for most of the season. For me that's been important, just trying to stay healthy.
WALTERS: No season is going to be without injuries, and you lost guys like Karlsson and Shea Theodore lately, but they're back, and you guys are on a roll. Six straight wins. How have you seen this team hit on all cylinders?
EICHEL: I think the depth of our group is obviously something that we rely on heavily and we feel comfortable with all of our forwards, defensemen, and both goaltenders. You start to get guys back, and especially some of the key players on our team that play in big situations, it adds to that and it also elevates everyone else's game. We rely on each other, and I think there's a good trust factor in the locker room. It's been good. We've found different ways to win over the last two weeks. There's a lot to like about our game, but at the same time, there are things we always want to be improving on. I think it's a double-edged sword of being happy with where you're at but at the same time knowing there's things you want to clean up and you want to be at your very best."
WALTERS: You're entering the home stretch of your fourth season with VGK. You already have a Stanley Cup title under your belt. What's the mentality for you, not being satisfied and go for that second Cup?
EICHEL: I think having the opportunity to do what we did a few years ago has only made us all hungrier. Gives you a taste of how great winning is and how hard it is to get there and what it takes. We want to be the last team at the end of the year and prove we're the best team in the NHL and earn your right to be Stanley Cup champions. It's a long way away to be able to do that. We know there's steps along the way we have to take, and it's just continue to win games down the stretch in the regular season and find our game the best we can.
WALTERS: Every season is different for every team out there, but two years ago, this team got hot at the right time and went on that magical Stanley Cup run. You guys are getting hot seemingly at the right time right now. What similarities do you see between this year's team and what it was two years ago?
EICHEL: I think that there's some similarities for sure. There's familiar faces, for one. But at the same time, I think we may be a little different in the way we play. But I think there's a lot of things that you can take from that team that won and some of the depth. Depth scoring, how much we rely on our defensemen, and we have so much confidence in our 6, 7, even 8 defensemen, and our goaltenders. It's great that we're healthy at this time of year right now for the most part. We have most of our guys in the lineup. It'll be exciting to get (Alex Pietrangelo) back, you get (Tomas) Hertl back, and what it does to the group. You want to be playing your best hockey this time of year because when the playoffs start, you can't just turn your game on. It has to have been there and establish the way you're gonna play. So, for us, it's continuing to build the right habits. You want to just win hockey games down the stretch. It's a contagious feeling and I think it just continues to build confidence within the group as well.
WALTERS: The team got Reilly Smith back, an Original Misfit, and like you said, the Knights are very healthy when it matters. What have you learned through your career about what matters most as we start to wrap up this regular season and hit crunch time?
EICHEL: I think it's important to have your habits and your identity and how you're going to play and how you envision yourself winning. I think we have that. The DNA of our team, and I think we've been together long enough. We know what makes us successful as a group, so I think that's pretty clear and cut. In terms of heading into the playoffs, obviously you want to gather as much energy, you want to continue to win hockey games, have the confidence within the group where we believe that we can do it. I think all those things are important. I don't think they all happen at once. It's a day-to-day routine of trying to improve and prepare and get yourself in the best position to have as much success as you can. I think our group will do that. We're going to play a lot of competitive games down the stretch. We have some divisional teams, and we're playing a lot of teams that are fighting for positions in the standing. So it'll be a good test for us and just playing in those desperate hockey games night in and night out. I think it'll be a lot of fun, and it'll be important for us as we head to the postseason.
