BOSTON -- No honor means more to a hockey player than wearing a ‘C’ on his chest.
And it’s safe to say that Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.) has done his job in setting the pace for his Buffalo Sabres teammates to follow during his first season as captain.
That continued in Eichel’s Sunday night return to the Bay State as he scored twice and assisted on linemate Jeff Skinner’s two goals in a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden, where the Sabres have earned three consecutive victories for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
“I always have an extra jump in my step and a little bit more emotion here,” said Eichel, who now has a 5-6-11 line in 12 career games against the Bruins. “It's always special coming back home with a lot of family and friends here, and it’s awesome that we played such a good game as a group. We wanted two points last night (in a shootout loss at Washington) and thought we could have had it, but it's great to come in here after less than 24 hours and get two points.”
It seems, though, that Eichel has had an extra jump in his step all season long. Following Sunday’s game, Eichel and former Boston College standout Johnny Gaudreau ― the Hobey Baker Award winners in 2015 and 2014, respectively ― are now tied for fifth in the National Hockey League with 45 points apiece.
But there’s no doubt that Eichel’s many, many memories on Causeway Street from both his childhood and his 71-point season at Boston University helped fuel a 17th multi-point game this season. Eichel is already one shy of tying his career-high in that category.
“This is a building I grew up coming to a lot and watched games with my dad,” said Eichel, the Sabres’ youngest captain in history at 22 years and one month old. “I just picture myself watching guys that I loved as a kid, Sid (Sidney Crosby) or Ovi (Alexander Ovechkin).
“I’ve played a lot of games here. I’ve had some memorable moments and some moments that you’d probably want to forget. … But it’s a big win for our group at the point of the season that we’re at. They’re a team that’s right behind us in the standings right now, and I thought we came out here and played a really good game.”
Eichel’s rise from the Boston Junior Bruins to the U.S. National Team Development Program and BU was special for New Englanders to follow. All the way along, most knew that he had what it takes to bring his game to the next level, the sport’s highest level.
His rise to elite status in the NHL hasn’t disappointed either, but this season has been a special one. With only 34 games gone in the 82-game schedule, Eichel is on pace to become the first Sabre to record more than 95 points since 1992-93.
For second-year coach Phil Housley, the aforementioned numbers don’t lie. But it’s the completeness to Eichel’s game has been the most impressive in this crucial portion of the season, helping the Sabres rise to second place in the Atlantic Division with a 20-9-5 record.
On this emotion-filled night, Eichel filled up the scoresheet and took down the B’s. He had three of his four points in the third period, extending his scoring streak to six games, and recorded a plus-3 rating, six shots on goal (to raise his total to 148, which tops the NHL), three takeaways, and a blocked shot to help lead the thorough effort.
It was all there. He slipped a backhand pass to Skinner from behind the goal line for the Sabres’ first goal late in the first and then showed his finishing power 5:43 into the second, lifting his first of two goals (and his 13th of the season) past the Bruins’ Tuukka Rask from the right circle. In the final minute, one-time Vermont commit Zemgus Girgensons blocked a shot that led to Eichel’s empty-net goal that cinched the game.
“He’s just brought his game to another level, especially under the circumstances tonight, too,” Housley said. “He played 24-25 minutes last night, then comes back and plays almost 20 minutes tonight, and he plays at both ends. He’s attacking the game with speed offensively, he’s reloading with meaningful strides coming back into our zone. He’s just playing a 200-foot game, a very complete game right now.”
One player who has had a personal look at the new Buffalo captain’s game for several years is Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk. The Charlestown, Mass., native, who is six NHL games shy of the century mark for his career, was a junior captain on Eichel’s BU team.
That year, the Terriers won Beanpot and Hockey East titles at the Garden before losing the national title to Hockey East rival Providence. Eichel, who played on a line with current Sabre Evan Rodrigues and farmhand Danny O’Regan (Needham, Mass.), became the first freshman ever to win the Hobey Baker Award.
It’s certainly hard not to see No. 9’s raw skill, but the whole package around him, a line with Skinner and fellow youngster Sam Reinhart, and his emergence as the leader in Buffalo has, indeed, made this year special to watch from afar.
“He's had a good start to his career and this year he's obviously been pretty special to watch, but the team in general has been playing well around him,” Grzelcyk said. “He seems to have a little bit of a different mentality that he's the captain in taking on more responsibility. I know that's something he takes pride in.”
There’s plenty of hockey to be played, though lots to be excited about for Sabres fans after a complete win like Sunday’s in Boston.
And New England’s own NHL star is playing the starring role.
“We’ve been through a lot of adversity together and I think we’re probably sick of it,” Eichel said of his Sabres team. “The last few years, it hasn’t been easy, but the way our season has started this year, we have a lot of confidence in each other and a belief. We think we can win every game, and it was no different tonight. If we do the right things long enough and don't break, we'll give ourselves a chance to win, and we did that.”
