Laczynski scores in stand-in role as Golden Knights lose to Kings in preseason game

The Golden Knights aren't expected to be perfect in the preseason, but that does not equate to sloppiness.

Following Vegas' 3-2 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said while he's accounting for some sloppiness in the preseason, he's still expecting the team to play like it's the regular season.

"That's the NHL, but you have to account for some sloppiness," Cassidy said. "Most of the guys tonight, it's their first exhibition here. I'll say this, a lot of our training camp is all about how we want to play in each zone, so we're visiting things and working on structure."

Zone play, when it was defending and attacking, is where Vegas struggled through the majority of the game. In the first period, the Golden Knights were outshot 15-3 and went 0-for-3 on the power play the entire game.

It was something that center Tomáš Hertl was disappointed in, saying that the team really hasn't gotten in any power play work so far in training camp.

"In the next couple of days in training camp, you start looking for the power play units and get more time to work with them," Hertl said. "You get to know each other, and everybody takes different positions."

"We just have to work a lot harder. We have extra guys, so we definitely should be better."

While Vegas has one preseason game under its belt, this was the first preseason game for a handful of players including Hertl, Noah Hanfin, Pavel Dorofeyev, Alexander Holtz and Nicholas Roy.

Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, Adin Hill and William Karlsson have still not played a preseason game. With four preseason games still left, the Golden Knights are still getting adjusted back to a game pace.

"We're not scrimmaging every day so that when it comes to preseason, you're used to a little bit of that," Cassidy said. "That's going to be tough the first few games for guys that haven't played."

One of the players who has played in both preseason games and has had a substantial impact is newly acquired center Tanner Laczynski. He had a goal and an assist Wednesday and drew a penalty in Sunday's game.

Laczynski centered the line of Stone and Dorofeyev in Tuesday's practice, subbing in for Karlsson, who is injured. Cassidy said that he's still looking for the right players to complement him.

"He's an offensive-minded center man, and he's proven it everywhere but the National Hockey League," Cassidy said. "Sometimes you need that opportunity to do that. I don't know what happened in Philadelphia. I wasn't there, but at the end of the day, we're trying to put him with players that will complement that part of his game."

Hosting Utah on Friday and still in the process of playing a handful of players for the first time, the Golden Knights are still trying to find who complements each other the best.

"We'll move a few pieces around, give guys opportunity," Cassidy said. "That is always the plan to have in your back pocket that you're going to look at a number of different things."