Golden Knights can’t overcome big first period in loss to Kings

By Justin Emerson

Published Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 | 3 p.m.

Updated Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020 | 9:37 p.m.

Everyone in the arena Thursday night thought it might happen. The Golden Knights were down by four goals but when Max Pacioretty scored in the second period, there was at least a fleeting hope that they could come back.

The attempt fell short in the end, as a four-goal first period against the Los Angeles Kings put the Golden Knights in too big of a hole to climb out of at T-Mobile Arena. They lost to the Kings 5-2.

The Kings were all over the place in the final seven minutes of the first period. They didn't generate much in the first two-thirds of the period then poured on four in the final 6:20. First it was two defensemen connecting on slap shots from long range: Alec Martinez at 13:40 then Ben Hutton at 15:01.

Los Angeles added two more before the period was up. Tyler Toffoli scored off a faceoff at 18:44, then Adrian Kempe poked in a loose puck with 4 seconds remaining in the first period.

It forced the Golden Knights to chase a three-goal deficit for the third game in a row. They erased it on Saturday to beat the Blues, and came up short on Tuesday against the Penguins. The win over the Blues was the first time in franchise history they came back from down three goals to win, and they had never overcome four goals.

But they sure gave it a good shot. Reilly Smith started the Vegas scoring by cashing in on his own rebound at 14:38 of the second period, followed 54 seconds later by Pacioretty depositing the puck into an open net on a feed from Paul Stastny. Suddenly it was a two-goal game with all the momentum on the home bench.

Vegas didn't let up when the third began either. The Golden Knights poured it on with 10 of the first 11 shots in the period as well as the game's only power play. From the end of the first period through the end of the game, the Golden Knights led in shots on goal 35-5, but could not score in the third period.

Kempe scored his second of the game with 9 seconds left, shooting the faceoff into the net.

Vegas led in total shots on goal 45-23.

Golden Knights chip away at big Kings lead in second

They can't do this again right?

The Golden Knights scored twice in the second period, breathing life into a game in which they trailed 4-0 after one period. After two, they trailed the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 at T-Mobile Arena.

The Golden Knights had five shots on goal in the first 90 seconds of the period and had overtaken the lead in that category, which Los Angeles led 17-10 after a period, by the 4:25 mark of the frame and had 17 of the first 18 shots.

The Golden Knights finally broke through at 14:38 of the second on a flurry in front of the net. Reilly Smith was there to pick up the garbage, collecting his own rebound and firing it into the twine. That brought the score to 4-1, and a little hope creeped into T-Mobile Arena.

The building came alive 54 seconds later when Max Pacioretty buried his 20th of the season, cutting a lead that was once 4-0 down to just two goals.

The period followed the same script from the last two games, in which they fell behind 3-0. The second period was good in both the comeback win against the Blues and the attempt that fell short against the Penguins. The Golden Knights scored two in the second, setting up the chance at an even more dramatic comeback in the third.

Shots were 24-3 in favor of Vegas in the second and 34-21 in the game.

Another slow starts puts Golden Knights in big hole after 1

The Golden Knights started slow the last two games, and the third time appears to be a charm. Vegas allowed the first three goals of the game for the third game in row, and found themselves in a 4-0 deficit to the Los Angeles Kings after one period at T-Mobile Arena.

Vegas did a good job of keeping the Kings away from Malcolm Subban in the first, so Los Angeles decided to score from as far away from the net as possible while staying in the zone. The puck bounced off Subban's pad and out to Alec Martinez, who was standing at the blue line and blasted a shot high to the glove side to make it 1-0 Kings at 13:40.

Minutes later Los Angeles did basically the same thing with the same result. This time it was Ben Hutton's turning, winding up and firing from the top of the left circle to beat Subban at 15:01 to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.

The Kings still weren't done. Tyler Toffoli next up, taking the faceoff win and ripping it into the net at 18:44.

It marked the third consecutive game that the Golden Knights surrendered at least the first three goals of the game and the 14th goal allowed in their last six first periods.

As if 3-0 wasn't bad enough, with 4 seconds left in the period the Kings tapped in one more, as Adrian Kempe poked in a loose puck in the crease. It was the second time this season the Golden Knights allowed four goals in a period, matching a season-high, and first time at home.

The Kings led in shots on goal 17-10 after the first.

Golden Knights look to avoid slow start as Kings come to town

The Golden Knights have been playing hockey with the difficulty turned all the way up their last two games. Twice in a row, they surrendered the first three goals of the game, only to storm back and make things interesting in the third period. Saturday, they won in overtime. Tuesday, they lost in regulation.

They've made it tough on themselves, but tonight the Golden Knights are hoping to play the way they have been after going down 3-0, without going down 3-0. They host the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena with a hot start on their minds.

"We've got to come out and be monumentally better from the start," forward Alex Tuch said. "I thought the last 40 minutes were some of the best hockey we've played all year, but you give up two goals quickly, you've dug yourself a hole and sometimes you can't climb out of it."

Going down 3-0 feels like a death sentence. Prior to Saturday's 5-4 comeback win against the Blues, the Golden Knights had been 0-13-1 in games it had fallen behind by even two goals. They had never had a three-goal comeback. But then they did in what was arguably the biggest regular season win in franchise history.

They weren't as lucky on Tuesday, going down 3-0, then scoring the next two before eventually losing to the Penguins 4-3. But the fact is that after falling behind by three goals, Vegas went on to outscore the opposition 8-2. Toss out the first period and we're talking about dominant wins over two of the NHL's best.

"It's nice to have a game like that to come back and show that you can do it," forward Chandler Stephenson said. "Obviously you don't want to do that every night."

The Kings enter the game in last place in the Western Conference, both in terms of total points and points percentage. Their minus-29 goal differential is second-worst in the conference, and they are coming off a 2018-19 season in which they finished last in the conference. Things aren't looking good in Los Angeles.

And yet the Kings continue to give Vegas a fight. This is their first trip to T-Mobile Arena this year after splitting two games at Staples Center and splitting the four-game season series last year. The Golden Knights are just 5-4-2 all-time against the Kings, making them one of two Pacific Division teams against which Vegas has more losses than wins.

"They might be in the standings not great right now, but they're a better team than that," Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. "They work hard and compete hard. There's no easy teams."

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

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights minus-300, Kings plus-220; over/under: 6 (EVEN, minus-120)

Golden Knights (24-16-6, 54 points) (14-8-3 home), second place, Pacific Division

Coach: Gerard Gallant (third season)

Points leader: Max Pacioretty (44)

Goals leader: Max Pacioretty (19)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (26)

Expected goalie: Malcolm Subban (2.90 GAA, .904 save percentage)

Kings (17-24-4, 38 points) (6-14-3 road), eighth place, Pacific Division; ninth place, Wild Card

Coach: Todd McLellan (first season)

Points leader: Anze Kopitar (16)

Goals leader: Anze Kopitar (23)

Assists leader: Anze Kopitar (39)

Expected goalie: Jonathan Quick (3.02 GAA, .895 save percentage)

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Chandler Stephenson—William Karlsson—Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty—Paul Stastny—Mark Stone

Tomas Nosek—Cody Eakin—Alex Tuch

William Carrier—Nicolas Roy—Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb—Nate Schmidt

Nick Holden—Shea Theodore

Nicolas Hague—Deryk Engelland

Goalies

Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban