Vegas Golden Knights: Main takeaways from win over LA Kings
It was a winning weekend for the Vegas Golden Knights who clinched two wins in a divisional back-to-back double-header after beating the LA Kings 5-2 on Sunday night.
Following their 6-2 success over the Calgary Flames on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, the Vegas Golden Knights hit the road last night and spoiled the Kings’ chances of completing their own double-header sweep this weekend.
It was a fast start from the Knights who struck first at 5:42 in the first period as Reilly Smith converted his fourth goal of the year, before Max Pacioretty scored on the power play mere minutes later.
Austin Wagner got LA on the board soon after but Vegas’ power play exploded in the second period with Paul Stastny grabbing two goals on the man advantage.
Dustin Brown gave the Kings a slither of hope early in the third period but Mark Stone took the wind out of the sails of the home crowd seconds later after completing the scoring for Vegas, who improved to 4-2-0 on the year.
The Vegas Golden Knights were dominant from the first drop of the puck and they played an aggressive style of hockey which got the job done.
Here were our three takeaways from the win over the LA Kings…
1. Quick Start Pays Dividends
LA are a gritty hockey team who were on a high after beating the Nashville Predators 7-4 on home ice on Saturday night, a team that should be considered a Stanley Cup contender given the firepower they have at their disposal.
However, the Golden Knights did what they had to do to suck the energy out of the home crowd early and gain the mental edge, which was important given that both teams had played the night before.
Reilly Smith registered his fourth goal of the year from a William Karlsson feed at 5:42 in the first period, and that seemed to give the rest of the Golden Knights a real jolt of energy.
And it paid off as Vegas added to their lead at 6:59 with Max Pacioretty roofing a shot over Jonathan Quick on the power play.
Two quick body blows left the Kings dragging themselves off the canvas and, although Austin Wagner would get LA on the board in the first period, the damage was done and the Knights never took their foot off the gas following their quick start.
2. Deadly Power Play reigns supreme
If you are a good hockey team then you live and die by your special teams and the Vegas Golden Knights are living right now.
While their penalty kill is ranked first in the NHL currently (95.5), and it went 3-for-3 last night, it was the power play that grabbed all the headlines.
And rightly so.
Vegas’ PP went a perfect 3-for-3 with Max Pacioretty roofing a shot over Jonathan Quick in the first period, and the man advantage really cranked up a gear in the second period.
Paul Stastny potted his second goal of the year after tipping a sublime Pacioretty dish through Quick’s five-hole, and he was at it again soon after.
With the power play buzzing by this point, rookie defenseman Nic Hague delivered a delicious feed to Jonathan Marchessault who then fed Stastny and the veteran center was able to one-time the puck past Quick in the slot.
LA could not live with the Golden Knights’ power play and it is currently clicking at a 30.0 percent success rate, good enough to be ranked 7th in the NHL.
There is no doubt that rookie phenom Cody Glass has added a different dimension to the power play with his ability to make plays and read the open ice, and it has the potential to get even better once Alex Tuch gets off the IR.
That is a scary thought for the rest of the NHL.
3. Top Two Lines are rolling
There was a school of thought prior to the year revolving around whether or not we would see a return to dominance for Vegas’ top line.
Well, that question has been answered already and emphatically so.
Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith have been outstanding so far in 2019-20 and they are contributing in big ways.
For starters, Karlsson has racked up six points with six assists in six games while Smith has been lethal in front of goal with four goals and five points.
Marchessault only has three points (one goal, two assists) but he’s a played a huge role in his linemates enjoying a fruitful start to the year.
That line had an even-strength expected goals percentage of 97.43 against the LA Kings, while they all sit inside the top six NHL players when it comes to even strength expected goals for percentage with a minimum of 50 minutes of total ice time (stats credit: Jesse Granger of The Athletic).
And then you have the second line. Mark Stone has been red hot to start the year and he leads the Golden Knights in points with nine (four goals, five assists).
Max Pacioretty is right behind him with two goals and six assists for eight points, while Paul Stastny had himself a hell of a night on Sunday.
Back on the second line between Pacioretty and Stone, Stastny recorded a four-point night with two goals and two assists, with three of those points coming on the power play.
Next. 3 Takeaways from the win against the Flames. dark
He now has five points (three goals, two assists) this year and that in itself is interesting when you consider that Stastny didn’t have a single point to his name until he was bumped back up to the second line two games ago.
Most contenders have one elite line but the Golden Knights can boast two at their disposal and they had themselves a night against the LA Kings.