Jack Eichel was booed throughout the entire game as the Vegas Golden Knights faced the Buffalo Sabres this past weekend. Eichel scored, but Tomas Hertl wanted him to get another—giving up an empty-netter in an attempt to pass it to him. Now, Mark Stone is speaking out about the controversial decision that ultimately cost the Golden Knights the game.
Eichel’s departure from the Buffalo Sabres was always a contentious topic. This past weekend, he returned to Buffalo for the third time since being traded in 2021, and as expected, he was the center of attention. Eichel was booed relentlessly, but he thought he had the last laugh when he scored to give Vegas a 3-2 lead with 2:33 left in the third period.
Shortly after, Tomas Hertl had a golden opportunity to seal the win with an empty-net goal. Instead, he attempted to pass it to Eichel—missing the target and allowing Rasmus Dahlin to tie the game with just 13.6 seconds remaining.
Stone responds to Jack Eichel criticism
Many have criticized Hertl and the Golden Knights for trying too hard to set up Jack Eichel for another goal, seemingly as a response to the crowd’s relentless jeering. On Sunday, during the NHL on TNT’s pregame show, Vegas captain Mark Stone was asked about the missed empty-netter and came to Hertl’s defense.
“Looking back on it now, you want Tommy to put it in,” Stone admitted. “But we had a teammate getting booed the entire night, and he wanted to share the wealth with him. You can’t hate on his willingness to help a teammate out.”
On social media, however, many slammed Vegas for prioritizing sentiment over securing the win—and Stone for defending the decision. Some argued that the Buffalo crowd effectively got into the Golden Knights’ heads, causing the mistake that cost them the game.
“You play to win the game,” one fan wrote.
“Rent free,” another added.
“The Buffalo crowd single-handedly won that game. Weak,” a third commented.
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