Eichel notches goal and 2 assists in his 500th game, Golden Knights beat Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists in his 500th regular-season NHL game and the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Thursday night.

Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored to help the defending Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights improve to 15-5-3.

Adin Hill stopped all 16 shots he faced before leaving because of precautionary measures for a lower-body injury. Logan Thompson took over in the third period, stopping five of six shots.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored for Vancouver, and Thatcher Demko made 40 saves. The Canucks fell to 15-8-1.

Barbashev opened the scoring, slotting a shot between Demko’s legs at 4:46 of the first period. Eichel made it 2-0 with 3:42 left in the first. Nicolas Hague drove to the net, passed it to Barbashev, who then slid it across the slot to Eichel for his ninth of the season.

Karlsson sniped it past Demko midway through the second to make it a 3-0 game. Howden tipped in Alex Pietrangelo's point shot 16 seconds into the third period.

Kuzmenko scored at 4:01 of the third.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: Host Washington on Saturday night.

Canucks: At Calgary on Saturday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl