Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev, right, celebrates with Chandler Stephenson (20) and Phil Kessel (8) after scoring a goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena Thursday, April 6, 2023.
Published Thursday, April 6, 2023 | 9:48 p.m.
Updated Thursday, April 6, 2023 | 11:17 p.m.
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It's been five years since an April game between the Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings meant something.
Some feelings of yesteryear, when Vegas swept their Interstate-15 rivals in the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, were felt throughout T-Mobile Arena tonight.
Glow sticks flickered through the pregame festivities. Fans, with Kings supporters sprinkled sporadically throughout the seats, provided an early glimpse of what a playoff atmosphere feels like.
More importantly, it was a reminder that these teams just don't like each other.
The Golden Knights didn't forget what happened the last time Los Angeles made the trek to Las Vegas. They took that to heart in a 5-2 win over the Kings on Thursday.
When the Kings were last here Jan. 7, their 1-3-1 neutral zone defense stifled the Golden Knights in one of their worst performances of the season. Kevin Fiala, who didn't play this time around, had a hat trick.
The script was different this time around thanks to Vegas' speed along the walls and ability to win puck battles.
The new-look third line of Ivan Barbashev, Chandler Stephenson and Phil Kessel had two points each as part of a four-goal first period, and Laurent Brossoit made 30 saves for the Golden Knights (49-22-8) to improve to 13-3-2 since March 1.
"Phil's still got it. He still makes plays," Stephenson said. "Barbie, he's a great addition. He's been solid ever since he got here (15 points in 20 games with Vegas), gets a lot of pucks, can finish and make plays. Just a lot of patience."
The line scored three times in 3:13, starting with Kessel's wrap-around at 2:54. Barbashev scored on a one-timer from Stephenson at 3:56 to make it 2-0, and Stephenson scored at 6:07.
This all came after a goal from Kopitar at 2:26 was overturned after an offsides challenge from Vegas was successful. Kessel scored 28 seconds later, and the Golden Knights were off and running.
"You never want to start a game getting scored on your first shift," Stephenson said. "And then you get games like Me, Phil and Barbie had."
Vegas extended its lead over the third-place Kings to six points with three games to play. The Edmonton Oilers trail the Golden Knights by three points for the top spot in the Pacific Division and Western Conference.
Vegas can clinch the division on Saturday with a win at Dallas and if Edmonton loses to San Jose.
"We're down to three games left in a tight division," defenseman Nic Hague said. "I think both sides realize the importance of these games and we obviously want to finish atop the division. In a game like this against them, nipping at our heels here, I think we stepped up and played a great game."
Bad blood, certainly, is far from gone and Hague was at the forefront. The 6-foot-6 defenseman dropped the gloves with Kings forward Zack MacEwen after the latter hit Ben Hutton from behind into the glass, resulting in a five-minute boarding penalty.
Hague landed numerous hard rights to MacEwen, resulting in a five-minute major for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.
On the ensuing power play, the Golden Knights capitalized with Roy finishing a cross-ice pass from Jack Eichel at 11:23 of the first for a 4-0 lead.
Hague watched the remainder of the first period in the locker room after accumulating 17 minutes of penalty time. Between exiting the first period and spending the first nine minutes in the penalty box until the next stoppage, Hague didn't see game action for nearly an hour.
"I was walking around a little bit. Adrenaline was pretty high," Hague said.
Before going to the locker room, Hague was met with high-fives from the Vegas bench.
"That stuff's kind of fun sometimes, right?" Hague said. "Any time a guy does something like that, it increases the energy a little bit."
This game was circled on the calendar the moment the Golden Knights acquired Jonathan Quick from Columbus prior to the trade deadline. Quick, the longtime Kings goalie with whom he won the Stanley Cup twice, watched from the bench as his new team erupted for five unanswered goals in the first 21:02 of game time.
The Golden Knights chased Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo — who was acquired from Columbus for Quick — after five goals on 15 shots.
It was admittedly a tough decision for coach Bruce Cassidy to go with the hot goalie in Brossoit, or the 37-year-old Quick for the revenge factor.
In the end, Brossoit got the call and delivered another victory as the Vegas goalie carousel reaches its highest point of intrigue. Logan Thompson and Adin Hill skated on their own prior to morning skate Thursday, but a timetable on their return from respective lower-body injuries is still unknown.
"We play the hand we're dealt," Cassidy said. "Jonathan really wanted to play, LB has been playing really good hockey. That's the direction we went. LB got the win, played solid.
Cassidy added that no matter who is in goal come Game 1 of the first round, strong team defense will be key in front of the netminder.
"If we play well and play good team defense, we're in good shape," he said. "If we play loose, no."
It wasn't the strongest game by Brossoit. He didn't see much dangerous action in the first period, and the two he allowed in the second period came on the power play (Anze Kopitar) and a shorthanded breakaway (Vladislav Gavrikov).
Given what Vegas did prior to the Kings getting on the board, it didn't matter.
Barbashev has been a first-line player since Vegas traded for him on Feb. 27, an efficient complement to Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault. With the emergence of rookie Pavel Dorofeyev, Cassidy moved Barbashev to the third line with Stephenson and Kessel.
That move paid off.
"I think Barbie is going to be good no matter where we put him. He's a solid player," Cassidy said. "A couple of good things happened in regard with the lines and it worked out for us."
For the past few years, as the Golden Knights ascended to being one of the top teams in the NHL, the Kings had fallen off until last season when they returned to the playoffs for the first time since that 2018 season.
The rivalry seemed to die down. It took 12 minutes of game time to remind the masses it's revived at the right time.
"I think it's a good confidence booster for us," Hague said. "They're a good hockey team over there, and I think it just goes to show when we play the way we want to play, we can compete with anyone and win games like that."
