Slumping Vegas Golden Knights drop fifth straight in LA

It was another frustrating day at the office for the Vegas Golden Knights who dropped their fifth straight in a 4-3 loss to the LA Kings at Staples Center on Saturday.

In what was a matinee showdown, the Vegas Golden Knights were looking to snap their losing streak while the Kings were chasing a third consecutive win.

But it was the Kings who came out ready to play and they won the special teams battle in the first period thanks to a shorthanded goal from Blake Lizotte, before Drew Doughty converted on the power play.

The Golden Knights were the dominant team, though, and they were controlling puck possession while outshooting their hosts.

So it seemed only a matter of time until they would get on the board, and it happened early in the second period thanks to Max Pacioretty‘s seventh goal of the year.

However, sloppy play with the puck and turnovers that have plagued this team reared their ugly head again when Nikolai Prokhorkin quickly made it a two goal game yet again.

Jonathan Marchessault decided to take matters into his own hands, though, by unleashing a shot from the point that got through Jonathan Quick.

And, it was soon a tied game thanks to William Karlsson who took full advantage of a lucky bounce of the puck to set this contest up for an enthralling finish.

We all know, however, that when things aren’t going your way nothing goes right and an admirable effort by the Knights was undone when Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal on what was his 1,000th career NHL regular-season game.

The Vegas Golden Knights have now lost five straight, dropped seven of eight and are 9-9-3 on the year.

Let’s delve into the game some more by breaking it down period-by-period…

The Game

First Period – After about three icings in the opening minute of the game, both teams began to settle into a rhythm and were each given an early opportunity on the power play.

Cody Glass had the chance of a lifetime at point-blank range to convert on the man advantage, but he somehow missed and that led to an odd-man rush with Blake Lizotte converting on Adrian Kempe‘s rebound.

And, it only got worse for the Golden Knights as what they couldn’t do the Kings could, with Drew Doughty blasting home a one-timer on the power play.

Vegas had outshot LA 14-8 and were on top in most possession-based categories, but were somehow trailing on the scoreboard.

Second Period – Vegas’ dominance paid off at 7:24 in the second, however, although it came via a massive slice of luck.

Reilly Smith threw the puck on net and it bounced in off Max Pacioretty’s skate, although it looked certain that the goal would be overruled.

But, the goal was allowed to stand and the Golden Knights finally got the bit of puck luck that they had been craving.

It didn’t last long, however, as Nikolai Prokhorkin picked up the loose puck inside the slot and lifted it over Malcolm Subban for his first career NHL goal at 9:08.

By this point the game was fast developing into a track meet and the Knights made it a one-goal game at 14:52, as Jonathan Marchessault received a dish from Cody Eakin before one-timing it beyond Jonathan Quick from the point.

And it was a tied game heading into the third period after Pacioretty seized control of a bouncing puck before playing a sublime touch pass to William Karlsson, who roofed it from the slot area past Quick.

Third Period – Brayden McNabb was guilty of pinching but he hustled back and made a stellar play to break up a two-on-one to keep it a tied game.

But the plucky LA Kings regained the lead at 12:42 as Jeff Carter got just enough on Matt Roy‘s shot from the point to redirect it past Malcolm Subban for a goal on his 1,000th career regular season game in the NHL.

And it was a lead the Kings never relinquished as they held on for their third straight win, while inflicting a fifth straight loss on the Vegas Golden Knights in the process.

Let’s go over some notes and stats from the game…