#LAKings Kings buried beneath Golden Knights early barrage (Daily News)
LAS VEGAS Kings captain Anze Kopitar raised his arm in the air and moved over to hug his teammates.
All was well in the land of Kings … until it went wildly off the rails against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The catalyst was a successful challenge by Vegas for offside, taking Kopitars goal off the board just 2:33 into Thursdays game between the Kings and Golden Knights. What happened next was an immediate and dramatic shift of momentum impacting and eventually rattling the Kings at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas scored 21 seconds after the negated goal and padded its lead to 4-0 by the end of the first period on its way to a 5-2 win against the Kings in what was billed as a key Pacific Division showdown. For the Golden Knights, the win strengthened their hold on the division lead with 106 points, three ahead of second-place Edmonton and six in front of the third-place Kings.
All three teams have three games left in the regular season.
Most of the damage was inflicted by the Golden Knights bottom six. The third line of Ivan Barbashev-Chandler Stephenson-Phil Kessel accounted for six points. Barbashev had a goal and an assist, Stephenson scored and added an assist, while Kessel also had two points, scoring once and recording an assist. The Golden Knights scored three times in the opening 6:07, all produced from that third line.
Kings starting goalie Joonas Korpisalo was pulled for Pheonix Copley at 1:02 of the second period after Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault made it 5-0, an unassisted effort coming off a Kings turnover in their zone. Korpisalo allowed five goals on 15 shots (four on Vegas first six shots). Copley made 22 saves in relief.
The Kings were unable to get much going 5-on-5 as both their goals came via special teams, by Kopitar on the power play at 11:24 of the second period and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikovs short-handed effort at 14:10, pulling the Kings within three.
They were playing without three injured regulars defenseman Mikey Anderson and forwards Kevin Fiala and Gabe Vilardi. A fourth injured player, defenseman Alex Edler, has appeared in 64 games this season.
Of note, one intriguing storyline never got off the ground. Jonathan Quick, the winningest goalie in Kings history, did not get the start against his former teammates. Vegas instead turned to Laurent Brossoit, who has not lost in regulation in eight starts (5-0-3) this season.
Quick was the consummate team player in his 16 seasons with the Kings, which included two Stanley Cup championships. That personality trait has not changed with the trade to Vegas from Columbus in March, one day after the Kings dealt Quick to the Blue Jackets for two draft picks and Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
LB is playing some great hockey and youve got to do what you think is best for the team, Quick said of Brossoit after the morning skate.
Quick has appeared in nine games with Vegas starting eight times and is 5-2-1 with a 3.43 goals-against average and .895 save percentage
Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez, the author of the series-clinching goal in the Kings 2014 Stanley Cup championship, had the line of the morning when he was talking about Quicks arrival in Vegas.
What would Martinez have said if someone told him on Oct. 1 that Quick would be his teammate again?
No chance, Martinez replied. I would have said, What, am I getting dealt back to L.A.?
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/04/06...early-barrage/
All was well in the land of Kings … until it went wildly off the rails against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The catalyst was a successful challenge by Vegas for offside, taking Kopitars goal off the board just 2:33 into Thursdays game between the Kings and Golden Knights. What happened next was an immediate and dramatic shift of momentum impacting and eventually rattling the Kings at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas scored 21 seconds after the negated goal and padded its lead to 4-0 by the end of the first period on its way to a 5-2 win against the Kings in what was billed as a key Pacific Division showdown. For the Golden Knights, the win strengthened their hold on the division lead with 106 points, three ahead of second-place Edmonton and six in front of the third-place Kings.
All three teams have three games left in the regular season.
Most of the damage was inflicted by the Golden Knights bottom six. The third line of Ivan Barbashev-Chandler Stephenson-Phil Kessel accounted for six points. Barbashev had a goal and an assist, Stephenson scored and added an assist, while Kessel also had two points, scoring once and recording an assist. The Golden Knights scored three times in the opening 6:07, all produced from that third line.
Kings starting goalie Joonas Korpisalo was pulled for Pheonix Copley at 1:02 of the second period after Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault made it 5-0, an unassisted effort coming off a Kings turnover in their zone. Korpisalo allowed five goals on 15 shots (four on Vegas first six shots). Copley made 22 saves in relief.
The Kings were unable to get much going 5-on-5 as both their goals came via special teams, by Kopitar on the power play at 11:24 of the second period and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikovs short-handed effort at 14:10, pulling the Kings within three.
They were playing without three injured regulars defenseman Mikey Anderson and forwards Kevin Fiala and Gabe Vilardi. A fourth injured player, defenseman Alex Edler, has appeared in 64 games this season.
Of note, one intriguing storyline never got off the ground. Jonathan Quick, the winningest goalie in Kings history, did not get the start against his former teammates. Vegas instead turned to Laurent Brossoit, who has not lost in regulation in eight starts (5-0-3) this season.
Quick was the consummate team player in his 16 seasons with the Kings, which included two Stanley Cup championships. That personality trait has not changed with the trade to Vegas from Columbus in March, one day after the Kings dealt Quick to the Blue Jackets for two draft picks and Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
LB is playing some great hockey and youve got to do what you think is best for the team, Quick said of Brossoit after the morning skate.
Quick has appeared in nine games with Vegas starting eight times and is 5-2-1 with a 3.43 goals-against average and .895 save percentage
Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez, the author of the series-clinching goal in the Kings 2014 Stanley Cup championship, had the line of the morning when he was talking about Quicks arrival in Vegas.
What would Martinez have said if someone told him on Oct. 1 that Quick would be his teammate again?
No chance, Martinez replied. I would have said, What, am I getting dealt back to L.A.?
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/04/06...early-barrage/