Vegas Golden Knights: Established stars prove the difference as Kings conquered

Momentum is key in sports and the Vegas Golden Knights are certainly gathering steam after improving to 3-0-0 in the preseason following a thrilling 3-2 Overtime victory against the LA Kings at the STAPLES Center on Thursday night.

There were yet again a number of positives for the Vegas Golden Knights coaching staff and front office to dwell on, including strong showings from rookie phenom Cody Glass and goalie Oscar Dansk. Established stars such as Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone also played and they had key roles in the win.

Dansk recorded 36 saves on 38 shots, Stone tied the game up in the third period before Marchessault scored the Overtime winner, while prospect Curtis McKenzie also tallied a goal as the Knights came from behind to maintain their perfect record in the preseason games.

There was a slight scare, however, with William Karlsson held out of the third period as a precaution according to David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Karlsson is expected to practice on Friday and that is a huge relief for everyone connected with the Golden Knights.

Back to the game itself and, as great as wins are, it was a more worthwhile exercise for the fact that it presented Head Coach Gerard Gallant with another look at rookies hoping to win an opening night roster spot, in addition to tinkering and playing with different line combinations that could offer the Knights different options throughout 2019-20.

On that note, let’s delve into the matchup itself and break down the lineup and all three periods…

The Line-Up

Mark Stone was given his first taste of the preseason and he formed a top line also featuring William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. It was a big night for Cody Glass who lined up on the right side of a second line with Alex Tuch and Cody Eakin, which could be the Golden Knights’ third line during the regular season.

The bottom six was made up of rookies, prospects and players likely to begin the year in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves, while Deryk Engelland appeared on a lineup card for the first time this preseason with rookie Jimmy Schuldt his linemate on the second defensive pairing.

Nic Hague, one of five prospects gunning for a spot on the opening night roster, was paired on the top line alongside Nate Schmidt and Jake Bischoff and Jaycob Megna completed the blueline unit, while Oscar Dansk got the start between the pipes.

The Game

First Period – The LA Kings outshot the Knights 11-9 in the opening period but both goalies impressed as there were no goals to digest after the first 20 minutes. Jonathan Quick made nine saves for the Kings while Oscar Dansk stopped all 11 shots fired at him, and that was all she wrote for the opening frame.

Second Period – It was a case of what if for the Golden Knights in the middle frame as they came close on an impressive power play, with Nate Schmidt pinging a shot off the crossbar while Nic Hague tested Jonathan Quick with a one-timer.

Cody Glass supplied the pass for Hague and it was a dominant period for the young stud who was making the most of his opportunity playing on a line with Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch, who could be his linemates in the regular season if he succeeds in his mission of winning a roster spot.

Glass racked up a flurry of sublime passes as he fed dishes to Cody Eakin and Jimmy Schuldt who were both denied by Quick, while the Golden Knights were solid in their own zone and had carved out an outstanding streak of not allowing a goal in the last 140 minutes of preseason hockey.

However, that streak ended at 150.08 after Kings forward Dustin Brown slapped home Drew Doughty‘s rebound from the point on the power play, with Blake Lizotte picking up the secondary assist on the goal.

Dansk then came up big to put his shoulder in the way of a thunderous one-timer from Doughty, with the Kings outshooting the Knights 13-10 in the second period, which ended with the home team holding a slender lead.

Third Period – William Karlsson left the game early and wasn’t on the bench to start the final period, leaving Cody Glass to slide between Marchessault and Stone as a center, giving the rookie more ice time in which to catch the eye of the Vegas coaching staff and front office.

However, it was the LA Kings who drew first blood in the third period with Blake Lizotte recording his first goal of the preseason and his second point of the night, wristing Tyler Toffoli‘s saucer past Dansk to give the Kings a 2-0 lead.

But the Knights came back strong with Curtis McKenzie getting the credit on what was an LA own goal, before Mark Stone made it a tied game after displaying sick hands and a boatload of skill to score on the breakaway. It was a breathtaking move and we are all in to see plenty more of that from Stone throughout the regular season.

And, despite being outshot 14-6 in the third period, the Vegas Golden Knights were headed to Overtime.

Overtime – Cody Glass, Mark Stone and Nate Schmidt began Overtime but it was the second unit that came out and got the job done for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Cody Eakin latched onto the puck and fed Jonathan Marchessault with a delicious dish, and the wing did the rest after scoring past Quick on a superb breakaway. The forward roofed it over Quick’s glove side and that goal maintained the Golden Knights’ perfect start to the preseason.