Vegas Golden Knights: Main Takeaways from fifth straight loss in LA

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 16: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Nikolai Prokhorkin #74 of the Los Angeles Kings goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at STAPLES Center on November 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 16: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Nikolai Prokhorkin #74 of the Los Angeles Kings goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at STAPLES Center on November 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 16: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Nikolai Prokhorkin #74 of the Los Angeles Kings goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at STAPLES Center on November 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 16: Los Angeles Kings celebrate Nikolai Prokhorkin #74 of the Los Angeles Kings goal during the second period against the Vegas Golden Knights at STAPLES Center on November 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)

It was another frustrating loss for the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday after they dropped a 4-3 decision to the LA Kings at Staples Center.

Looking to snap their losing streak, the Vegas Golden Knights put in a much better effort compared to recent games, but that wasn’t enough as they dropped their fifth straight and fell to 9-9-3 on the year.

It was a nightmare start for the Knights, too, who lost the special teams battle emphatically in the first period.

Blake Lizotte scored a shorthanded goal moments after Cody Glass had missed a golden opportunity, before Drew Doughty unleashed a thunderous one-timer past Malcolm Subban on the power play.

Max Pacioretty‘s greasy goal, which appeared to come off his skate, was allowed to stand anyway early in the second period, but it was quickly wiped out by Nikolai Prokhorkin‘s first career goal in the NHL as the Kings made it a two-goal game again.

However, the Golden Knights were dominating puck possession and on the shot board, so it was no surprise when they hauled themselves back into the contest.

First, Jonathan Marchessault took matters into his own hands by firing a wrister from the point beyond Jonathan Quick, before William Karlsson roofed a shot after being perfectly fed by Max Pacioretty.

That wasn’t how the script was meant to end, though, and it had a hollywood ending for the Kings with Jeff Carter scoring the go-ahead and winning goal on his 1,000th career regular season game in the NHL.

It was a cruel end to the game for the Vegas Golden Knights, who put in one of their better efforts in recent weeks.

So, on that note, let’s go through our main takeaways from the 4-3 loss to the LA Kings…