Blog: Golden Knights outlast Kings in low-scoring battle

It took the Golden Knights awhile, and they only scored once against the opposing goalie, but when they did it was enough to beat the Los Angeles Kings.

Brandon Pirri broke the scoreless tie with a power-play goal three minutes into the third period tonight to lift Vegas over the Kings at T-Mobile Arena, 2-0.

Alex Tuch added an empty-net goal with 33 seconds remaining.

The Golden Knights had 48 shots on goal, and only had the one goal because Kings goalie Jack Campbell was superb. The 17 shots allowed were tied for the fewest by the Golden Knights this season.

But the Vegas goalie wasn't too bad either. Marc-Andre Fleury faced his biggest opposition in the third, when Tyler Toffoli, who beat Fleury in overtime last Sunday on a breakaway, found himself on a breakaway again with Fleury. This time the Golden Knights goalie stopped him, stretching all the way across the crease to make a pad save and keep Los Angeles off the scoreboard.

The Golden Knights have won four in a row since the Christmas break.

Golden Knights close to history

The Golden Knights may not have scored in the second period, but they came close to making some history.

The Golden Knights did not allow the first shot on goal by the Los Angeles Kings until thw 17:51 mark of the period, and outshot the Kings 18-4 in the second period that ended 0-0.

Vegas had never held an opponent shotless in a period, with the closest call coming on Oct. 26 when it held the Tampa Bay Lightning to one shot in the third period. The Kings went 20:26 from their last shot in the first period until their first shot in the second.

The Golden Knights held a 40-10 edge in unblocked shot attempts in all situations during the period.

On the other end, Los Angeles goalie Jack Campbell was superb, making 18 saves in the period and standing on his head to make up for a toothless Kings offense.

No score through a period

It looked sloppy to begin with, but both teams found their feet underneath them and turned in an entertaining period of hockey to begin Tuesday's game, albeit with no goals.

The Golden Knights played to a 0-0 draw through a period, with Vegas holding the edge in shots on goal, 9-8.

The Kings came out hot with four of the game's first five shots and it took more than one strong defensive play to keep the puck out of the Vegas net.

Alex Tuch had the Golden Knights' best chance when his shot got by Los Angeles goalie Jack Campbell, but Campbell gloved it before it crossed the goal line.

Pre-game

The Golden Knights will begin 2019 against a familiar opponent: the Los Angeles Kings.

The 6 p.m. game tonight at T-Mobile Arena marks the third time in 10 days the squads have met, and the fourth they have played since Dec. 8.

"It's a team that you like to play against because it's fun," defenseman Nate Schmidt said. "It's a good rivalry, it's a fun atmosphere. Our fans get into it, their fans get into it, it's blossoming into something big and it's always fun to play these kind of games."

The Golden Knights enter on a three-game winning streak, including winning games Saturday at the Kings and Sunday in Arizona. Vegas has not allowed more than one goal in a game since the Christmas break, and only one of the three goals have been at even strength.

The Kings beat the Avalanche in overtime last night and then traveled to Las Vegas. They have won five of their last six games, with their only loss coming on Saturday against Vegas.

"You play a team this many times in a week, it's good," coach Gerard Gallant said. "They're battling hard, they're playing a lot better hockey lately and we had a good game against them last night so hopefully we play good against them tonight."

Forward Max Pacioretty took the ice at practice this morning, though Gallant did not offer an update other than to say he is day-to-day and he will be back "hopefully soon." Defenseman Colin Miller was not on the ice, but Gallant said he is day-to-day with an upper body injury. Neither has played since Dec. 17.

Gallant said he does not know when recent waiver acquisition Valentin Zykov will join the team.

Emerson's Prediction: Golden Knights 4, Kings 2

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

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

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-245, Kings plus-225; over/under: 5.5 (plus-105, minus-115)

Golden Knights (23-15-4) (12-3-3 home)

Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)

Points leader: William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch (30)

Goals leader: William Karlsson (15)

Assists leader: Reilly Smith (18)

Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (2.55 gaa, .910 save percentage)

Kings (16-21-3) (7-10-2 road)

Coach: Willie Desjardins (first season)

Points leader: Anze Kopitar (27)

Goals leader: Dustin Brown (11)

Assists leader: Drew Doughty (9)

Expected goalie: Jonathan Quick (2.87 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, Oscar Lindberg, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

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

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban