Frantic first period lifts Golden Knights to victory over Kings

By Justin Emerson

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021 | 10:45 p.m.

First the Golden Knights scored. Then they scored again. Then after the Kings got one back, the Golden Knights scored again.  

Vegas scored three goals in a span of 1:16 during the first period Tuesday, setting the tone in a blowout against the Los Angeles Kings. They added two more in the second and one in the third, rolling to a 6-3 victory at Crypto.com Arena, their first game since the holiday break. 

“It was a greasy, hardworking road win,” forward Chandler Stephenson said. “Just trying to get your legs under you and get the feel back.” 

Reilly Smith got things going for the Golden Knights, redirecting a Jonathan Marchessault offering on the power play 9:53 into the first and snapping a 10-game goalless drought. Keegan Kolesar followed 26 seconds later with a redirect of his own, his second of the season. 

It took just 13 seconds for the Kings to answer when Adrian Kempe put one home, but the Golden Knights needed just 37 more seconds for Marchessault to put Vegas up 3-1. 

It was the 24th time in NHL history teams combined for four goals in 76 seconds, and the second time this season. 

“Yeah, that was pretty crazy. Not every time you’re watching a game, playing a game and there’s that many goals that quick,” said defenseman Ben Hutton, who assisted on Kolesar’s goal. “That was good to see a couple of the boys bury a couple goals. That was fun.” 

Stephenson and Mattias Janmark each netted a goal early in the second, giving Vegas a 5-1 lead and forcing a goalie switch for the Kings. 

For all the success Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has earned in his career — two Jennings Trophies, two Stanley Cup wins and a Conn Smythe Trophy — the Golden Knights don’t seem to struggle filling the net against him. He was terrific in a four-game playoff series in 2018, but in 13 regular-season starts against Vegas, the Los Angeles netminder has a 4-8-1 record and has allowed 42 goals in those 13 games, an .875 save percentage. 

Quick lasted just 2:47 into the second period before he was pulled for backup Garret Sparks, marking the fourth time he has not finished a start against Vegas. That includes his last two starts dating back to last year, and three of his last four. 

“We know how good he is, so what we try to do is simply just get people in front of him,” said Steve Spott, the acting head coach with Pete DeBoer in COVID-19 protocol. “He’s an aggressive goaltender, so we try to get some of our bodies — the Keegan Kolesar goal is a good example of that — where we’ve got to get our bodies in front of him and then get pucks to the net.  

“We were successful at doing that but we’re not taking anything away from Jonathan Quick. He’s a world-class goaltender.”  

Two of those goals came on the power play, an area of the Golden Knights’ game that is white-hot. Much was made of Vegas’ power-play struggles early in the year, and as bad as the unit was then it’s that good now. 

The Golden Knights have converted on 12 of their 35 power plays in December (34.3%), the most goals on the man advantage in the league this month. 

“Obviously early on in the year it wasn’t what we wanted, but we weren’t doing anything different or wrong, it’s just kind of the bounces you’re getting,” Stephenson said. “It’s having confidence and being able to make those plays. 

“It’s been rolling, so hopefully we can just keep it going and don’t look back.” 

The victory was the Golden Knights’ sixth in a row on the road, a franchise record. They’ve won six of seven and nine of 11, storming to first place in the Western Conference by total points.