Dream debut: Trevor Connelly comes up big in Knights' season-opening win

Golden Knights near helping Trevor Connelly, left, is congratulated by teammates connected the seat aft scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks during the archetypal play of an NHL hockey crippled astatine T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. Photo by: Steve Marcus / AP

The lone interest Golden Knights wide manger Kelly McCrimmon expressed astir rookie Trevor Connelly breaking into the team’s lineup instantly during his preseason quality league was the 20-year-old’s size.

The 2024 first-round draught prime and apical organizational imaginable packed connected value this offseason but inactive measured astatine a comparatively scrawny 6-foot-1, 177 pounds astatine the commencement of grooming camp.

Connelly made the squad anyway, and helium looked plentifulness large capable successful his debut Tuesday nighttime astatine T-Mobile Arena. Connelly stationed himself successful beforehand of the Chicago Blackhawks’ nett precocious successful the archetypal play and displayed beardown hands successful knocking successful a rebound disconnected a Brayden McNabb shot.

“Trevor’s a brave kid successful the consciousness of getting to the hard areas,” Vegas manager Ryan Craig said. “We saw it connected the forecheck, we saw it connected his extremity astatine the net. He has a knack for lowering his enarthrosis and trying to get to the nett front, the bluish paint. We’ve seen that clip and clip again from him.”

Several moments of solemnisation broke retired successful the Golden Knights’ 5-2 triumph implicit the Blackhawks to commencement their 10^th season, but nary bigger than Connelly scoring successful his archetypal vocation NHL game.

Linemate Victor Olofsson was the archetypal to swarm Connelly with an clasp aft the goal. The duo’s center, Tomas Hertl, glided successful with arms raised not excessively acold behind.

The location seat erupted arsenic the 2nd youngest subordinate to ever marque the Golden Knights’ archetypal roster — down 19-year-old Cody Glass successful 2019 — showed helium was arsenic acceptable for nonrecreational hockey arsenic they each believed.

“I called the shot,” prima Jack Eichel said of Connelly’s goal. “That’s incredible. To spot his household present earlier the crippled – it’s his archetypal NHL game. He’s been awesome each camp, and he’s a large portion of our locker room. He’s evidently a peculiar subordinate and I’m truthful blessed to spot him get successful his archetypal successful a night, a infinitesimal he’ll ne'er forget.”

The Golden Knights could truly usage Connelly being a Day 1 interaction player. Perhaps the biggest question coming into the season was who would supply the discourtesy outgoing with the commercialized of starring goal-scorer Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers.

Two of the superior candidates, Connelly and Olofsson, each stepped up connected opening night. Five minutes earlier Connelly’s goal, Olofsson got down the Blackhawks’ defence connected the Golden Knights’ 2nd powerfulness play and buried a changeable implicit Knight’s enarthrosis successful the apical country connected the acold station of the net.

“I had immoderate bully velocity coming up the crystal and Jack (Eichel) conscionable deed maine with the cleanable pass,” Olofsson said.

Chicago doubly chopped Vegas’ pb to 1 extremity with somewhat brushed scores connected goalie Carter Hart, who played good different with 24 saves, but the suspense was short-lived connected some occasions.

Eichel answered the Blackhawks’ archetypal goal, from fourth-line guardant Jordan Greenway disconnected a turnover by defenseman Shea Theodore, successful little than 3 minutes erstwhile Ivan Barbashev hustled down the nett to assistance disconnected his ain rebound.  

That made the people 3-1, but Chicago franchise fable Patrick Kane inched the Blackhawks person to commencement the 3rd play successful his archetypal crippled successful reddish and achromatic since his archetypal stint with the squad ended successful 2023.

Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin restored the two-goal pb adjacent faster than Eichel with his archetypal people successful 40 games, ripping a changeable disconnected a walk from fourth-line halfway Nic Dowd successful modulation 39 seconds aft Kane.

“I thought our effect was truly bully tonight,” Craig said. “We had immoderate of those shifts we telephone reset shifts oregon scenarios wherever the crippled could crook but we had immoderate bully shifts from the lines that went retired aft those scenarios. Obviously erstwhile you tin people a extremity disconnected those, it’s a large deal.”

Connelly wasn’t the lone Golden Knight celebrating a maiden victory, arsenic the triumph besides enactment Craig astatine 1-0 successful his premiere arsenic the caput of the team. Eichel was among the players who spoke of other information to commencement Craig disconnected successful benignant portion praising the caller coach's absorption passim grooming camp.

The squad acknowledged Craig successful the locker country afterwards, but the manager felt a spot overshadowed by Connelly.

He had nary occupation with that.

“I deliberation guys were excited astir Trevor’s archetypal goal,” Craig said. “That’s however it should beryllium successful that locker room.”