3 takeaways from Knights’ win: Goalie bounces back to end skid
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said the team was going to need stops from its goaltenders to snap out of its skid.
They got 32 of them from Logan Thompson on Thursday night, including several in a frantic final two minutes.
The Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena as a result to end their four-game losing streak. They also plugged up the leaks that caused them to surrender plenty of goals against in recent games.
The Knights (22-10-5) allowed at least four goals in seven of their last eight contests entering Thursday.
Thompson settled things down, just 24 hours after allowing four first-period goals in a 5-2 loss to Anaheim on Wednesday. He had given up 11 goals his previous two starts.
“We said we need better out of the position and we need to help him out as well,” Cassidy said. “Just give us a chance to win. He blocked 30-some shots tonight down a defenseman. Just give us a chance with timely saves and we got them tonight.”
Thompson looked healthy and locked in from the start Thursday. He stopped the first 13 shots he saw before center Anze Kopitar cut the Kings’ deficit to 2-1 with 6:53 to play in the second period.
Thompson then endured a tense final two minutes after left wing Trevor Moore scored for Los Angeles (20-8-4) with an extra attacker to cut the Kings’ deficit in half with 1:59 to play.
The Kings kept the puck in the offensive zone for close to the rest of the game. Thompson made two more stops and defenseman Brayden McNabb made three blocks to seal the victory.
“He should feel good about his game,” Cassidy said of Thompson. “He should go home feeling good and then build on it for the next one.”
Center Jack Eichel gave the Knights a 1-0 lead 7:38 into the first period. Right wing Michael Amadio added to it 2:27 into the second. Center William Karlsson responded to Kopitar’s goal to put the Knights up 3-1 with 5:18 left in the middle frame.
“We got back to our identity of being hard to play against,” Cassidy said. “A lot of pucks have been going in our net the last two or three weeks. Tonight we didn’t put ourselves in that position of having to outscore that.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Playing clean
The Knights struggling penalty kill hasn’t taken the ice much the last two games.
The team was whistled for two infractions Thursday after going to the penalty box only once Wednesday. Right wing Jonathan Marchessault was given a roughing penalty late in the second period against the Kings and left wing Brett Howden was given a tripping minor in the third.
The Knights killed off both Los Angeles power plays.
2. Man down
The Knights played for much of the game with only five defensemen.
Ben Hutton left in the first period with an upper-body injury. Hutton, who has nine points in 31 games this season, logged just 6:37 of ice time.
It’s not the first blue-line injury for the Knights. They also played Thursday without defensemen Shea Theodore and Kaedan Korczak.
3. Up next
Thursday marked the final game in the calendar year for the Knights, who won the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena in June.
They’ll help the NHL ring in 2024 by playing the Seattle Kraken in the Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park on New Year’s Day.
“I know there will be a ton of Golden Knights fans up in Seattle, so I can’t wait to see you all there,” Eichel told the crowd after the game.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
