3 Takeaways from the Golden Knights 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings

From calm seas to a giant whirlpool. It’s both a slightly messy maritime metaphor and a good describer of the Golden Knights's 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings Monday night, snuffing out a really strong second punctuated by goals from Brayden McNabb and Mark Stone. There’s one culprit in how that happened (more on that in the next paragraph). Here are my three takeaways from a less-than-Angelic night in the City of Angels.

Bad 3rd Punctuated by Bad Mistakes in Net

It’s hard to bash Samsonov who had a fairly decent 14-save night in goal for Vegas. But the game went south for the Golden Knights squarely on the type of high groan mistakes that, as good as he can be, he can drop on a game. First it was the Trevor Moore goal 42 seconds in that he absolutely should’ve gotten. Then this goal by Warren Foegle that he’s probably gonna chewing over in his bed, screaming “Why did I think that would work?!”

Joel Edmundson and Kevin Fiala added a couple more goals later on. The good news is the Golden Knights outshot Los Angeles 8-7 in that period. But it feels like a phallic victory given how the defense that was so strong the first couple of periods just went full sinkhole.

Top line goes virtually MIA at crucial time

Continuing along the theme of that ugly third, there’s another area worth looking at: the top line of Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev and Victor Olofsson. After Mark Stone’s goal that gave Vegas the lead, they completely fell off the map for the rest of the game. One shot on goal, a couple of faceoff wins, and a couple of blocked shots by Eichel…that was it. The only other flicker of offense came from a single shot by Victor Olofsson late in the second.

Part of it can be attributed to how well the Kings looked defensively throughout the third. But if you’re playing on the top line, there’s an expectation of bringing your A+ game when the team needs it. On Monday, for Barbashev and Olofsson, they didn't find that level.

“Steel & Stone” line a flicker of good news

Given how tough it ended, it merits spending a little time giving some flowers to the Howden-Saad-Stone line, aka “Steel & Stone.” They were the best line Monday night for Vegas and the only one to register multiple points. You could see it later on in that third as coach Cassidy used them to try to spark some type of comeback, even as things spaghettified for the Golden Knights. It’s the kind of energy they’re gonna need to right the ship, especially given who's coming up next on the schedule.

Next on the Marquee:

The Chicago Blackhawks await as the Golden Knights return to the Fortress on Thursday night at 7 P.M. No need to talk more about the “DEEP HURTING” that happened for Vegas the last time they took on the ‘Hawks. That also goes for that said game that was preceded by a road loss in Carolina punctuated by a bad third period, right? Right. Till Thursday night…