Blog: Golden Knight finally knock off Kings

By Justin Emerson

Published Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 | 11:37 a.m.

Updated Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 | 3:36 p.m.

Finally, the Golden Knights have beaten the Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings's 33 points entering the game were the fewest in the NHL and four of those points came in the two Vegas games. The Golden Knights were looking for some redemption, and got it Saturday, winning 4-1 at Staples Center.

William Karlsson collected a stretch pass from Nate Schmidt in the third period and all alone on the breakaway, he did not miss. He deked goalie Jonathan Quick out of his skates, then pulled to his forehand and slid the puck around Quick's skate.

It was Karlsson's team-leading 15th of the season at 3:20 of the third. Paul Stastny added an empty-net goal with 2:32 to play.

Malcolm Subban started in goal for Vegas and picked up his first victory of the season. He made 30 saves in his second start since Nov. 19.

Tuch makes it 2-1

Leave Alex Tuch all alone in the slot and bad things are bound to happen.

Tuch scored his 13th of the season, a heavy one-timer on a feed from Paul Stastny to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead over the Los Angeles Kings after two periods.

The Kings were buried deep in their own zone and could not clear the puck. Stastny kept it alive and fed Tuch on a nifty back-hander at 12:26.

The Golden Knights had two short-handed looks in the second, and on both of them Reilly Smith made a terrific play to set up an offensive look. Neither connected, but he continued to establish himself and William Karlsson as a deadly penalty-killing duo.

The Golden Knights led in shots on goal, 24-15.

Carrier, Kopitar score in first

The William Carrier third-line experiment is off to a good start.

Carrier found a quick chemistry with his new linemates, redirecting a Cody Eakin shot past goalie Jonathan Quick to give the Golden Knights an early lead over the Los Angeles Kings, who tied it 1-1 before the first period ended.

Coach Gerard Gallant said Friday he didn't like how little ice time Carrier received in Thursday's game against the Avalanche and wanted to move him up. Carrier's goal at 4:55 was his eighth in 41 games, and he came into the year with six in 78 games.

The Golden Knights looked like they were going to take the 1-0 lead into the intermission, but the Kings scored with 4.4 seconds left. Malcolm Subban made the initial save, but the rebound squirted out and Anze Kopitar put it home.

The Golden Knights ended the first period with a shots-on-goal advantage of 12-8.

Pre-game

The Golden Knights were busy ahead of their matinee this afternoon with the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center.

Vegas coach Gerard Gallant confirmed the team claimed forward Valentin Zykov off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers, and the Golden Knights placed defenseman Colin Miller on IR.

All before the Golden Knights try to solve the Kings, who have beaten them twice this year.

"They've played us really well this year, we played this team a lot, obviously the playoffs last year so it should be a good game today," Gallant said. "We know what they're going to bring and they know what we're going to bring, so hopefully we'll execute well and get two points out of here."

Zykov led the AHL in goals last season but has not found success at the NHL level. He had three assists in 13 games with the Carolina Hurricanes this year and did not score in five games with the Oilers. Gallant said he is not with the team and did not know if he would join the team Sunday in Arizona.

Miller has not played since Dec. 17 against Columbus and has two goals and 15 assists in 36 games. He joins forwards Erik Haula and Max Pacioretty on IR, and Gallant did not offer a timetable for his return.

The Golden Knights will put Malcolm Subban between the pipes against the Kings in search of his first win. Subban has played once since Nov. 19, a 30-save, one-goal performance against the Blue Jackets on Dec. 17.

"We know that (Subban) is going to come out and play really well for us so we want to have a really good game for him," forward Alex Tuch said. "He deserves it."

Vegas is looking to solve the last-place Kings, who defeated them 4-3 in overtime on Sunday at T-Mobile Arena and 5-1 no Dec. 8 at Staples Center.

"They're pretty good at slowing the game down," forward William Karlsson said. "We want to play fast and I think that's the key to success."

Emerson's Prediction: Golden Knights 5, Kings 2

Season record for predictions: Keefer 5-4, Emerson 4-6

TV: AT&T SportsNet (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-129, Kings plus-117; over/under: 5.5 (plus-100, minus-110)

Golden Knights (21-15-4) (9-12-1 road)

Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)

Points leader: William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault (29)

Goals leader: William Karlsson (14)

Assists leader: Reilly Smith (18)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.60 gaa, .908 save percentage)

Kings (15-20-3) (9-10-1 home)

Coach: Willie Desjardins (first season)

Points leader: Anze Kopitar (24)

Goals leader: Dustin Brown (10)

Assists leader: Drew Doughty (19)

Expected goalie: Jonathan Quick (2.92 gaa, .904 save percentage)

Golden Knights expected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Brandon Pirri, Paul Stastny, Alex Tuch, William Carrier, Cody Eakin, Ryan Carpenter, Tomas Nosek, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland, Nick Holden, Jon Merrill

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban