Vegas 6, Seattle 2.

That's the kind of game you want to see. Dominant, decisive, and built on the back of a line that looked like the best unit on the ice from the first period to the last.

Tomas Hertl was felling it all night. Victor Olofsson scored twice. Carter Hart played a full 60 minutes and looked nothing like the goalie who struggled in the Anaheim loss. Vegas moves to 3-1 on the season and the Hertl line is starting to look like a real problem for opposing teams.

First Period: The Hertl Line Announces Itself

Vegas opened the scoring at 13:02 when Olofsson finished off a sequence that started with Hertl doing the dirty work down low. Rasmus Andersson and Hertl with the assists — a clean even-strength goal that set the tone.

Then at 15:58, Hertl scored himself. A power play goal, with Mark Stone and Jack Eichel drawing the assists. Hertl's shot was hard and accurate, and the way he won the faceoff to set it up — he finished the night at 69% in the dot — was a reminder that he's not just a scorer. He's a complete center.

Two goals in the first. Vegas in control.

Second Period: Stone Goes Shorthanded, Eichel Goes Unassisted

The second period was a statement.

Mark Stone scored a shorthanded goal at 1:43 — Eichel with the only assist — and that kind of goal changes a game. It kills whatever momentum Seattle was building, it puts the crowd back in their seats, and it tells the other team that Vegas isn't going to give them anything easy even when they're down a man.

Olofsson made it 4-0 at 13:07, his second of the night. Hertl and Tyler Connelly with the assists. Olofsson's two goals came on just two shots — he doesn't need a lot of looks. When he gets the right one, it's going in.

Eichel capped the period with an unassisted goal at 19:29. His first of the season, and it came at the right time — a dagger right before the horn that made it 5-0 heading to the third.

Third Period: Hart Holds, Hertl Adds One More

Seattle got two in the third — Shane Wright at 4:52 and Jared McCann on the power play at 15:00 — but by then the game was long over.

Hertl added his second of the night at 9:43, a power play goal with Barbashev and Eichel assisting, to make it 6-1 before Seattle's second goal. Four points on the night. Two power play goals. Two assists. 69% in the faceoff circle. First star.

And then there's Carter Hart.

Hart Bounces Back

Hart played all 60 minutes and stopped 25 of 27 shots for a .926 save percentage. That's the performance Vegas needed from him after the Anaheim game, where he allowed four goals and looked shaky.

This was different. Hart was composed, he tracked the puck well, and he made the saves he was supposed to make. The two goals he allowed were both legitimate — a clean even-strength goal from Wright and a power play from McCann — not the kind of soft ones that cost you games.

Seattle started Daccord, who allowed five goals on 21 shots before being pulled. Grubauer came in to finish the first period and stopped six of seven. The Kraken had no answers for what Vegas was doing.

What 3-1 Looks Like

The Hertl line — Hertl centering Olofsson and Connelly — had a combined 7 points tonight. That's a line that's clicking. Hertl is winning faceoffs, driving possession, and scoring on the power play. Olofsson is finishing. The structure is there.

Eichel now has 7 points through four games. Stone has a shorthanded goal and multiple assists. Hart bounced back when the team needed him to.

3-1 is a good start. The schedule gets harder, but right now Vegas looks like a team that knows how to win different kinds of games — a grind in Vancouver, a blowout in Seattle.

---

Follow Knightly Info all season for game recaps, stats breakdowns, and the opinions nobody else in Vegas hockey coverage is willing to say out loud. Subscribe to the Knightly Dispatch for weekly roundups delivered straight to your inbox.