Golden Knights strike early, often in rout of Kings
Rust, shmust.
Whatever concerns the Golden Knights had about finding their legs after a 10-day layoff between games were quickly alleviated Friday night.
The Knights struck for three goals in the first period and used their decided speed advantage to claim a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at T-Mobile Arena.
Defenseman Nic Hague scored 50 seconds into the game on his way to a career-high three points, and William Karlsson also finished with a goal and two assists.
The Knights (6-1-1, 13 points) snapped a three-game losing skid to the Kings dating to last season and moved two points behind West Division leaders Colorado and St. Louis with three games in hand.
The series finale is at noon Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
“We always talk about it as a group, working as a unit of five and using our speed to our advantage,” Hague said. “I thought we did a good job of that tonight, playing quick in transition. We beared down on our chances that we had, so that was good to see.”
The Knights played for the first time since Jan. 26 after their season was paused last week and three games were postponed in accordance with NHL COVID protocols.
Coach Pete DeBoer was cleared from NHL COVID protocols Friday and was behind the bench after missing the team’s last game.
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo remained in the protocols, allowing Dylan Coghlan to make his NHL debut. He skated on the third pair with Nick Holden, who appeared in his first game of the season.
The Knights scored four goals on their first 10 shots to chase Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick at 1:35 of the second period.
Mark Stone and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and an assist, and Max Pacioretty notched three assists for his second straight three-point game.
Cody Glass scored in the second period to boost the struggling power play.
“I loved our start and loved the fact we got a lead, but I’m not sure the scoreboard reflected exactly how we were playing,” DeBoer said. “But this is a hard league to win in any night and particularly when you throw different circumstances like a 10-day layoff in there. It wasn’t a perfect game, but we showed up and got the job done.”
Marc-Andre Fleury won his fourth straight start but saw his shutout streak end at 119:59 when Austin Wagner scored in the third period. Dustin Brown had the other Kings’ goal.
Fleury has stopped 85 of 90 shots he’s faced and owns a 1.25 goals-against average.
Hague opened the scoring in the first minute when he pounced on a loose puck after Stone lost control and fired a shot into the top corner for his second career NHL goal.
Stone and Marchessault increased the lead to 3-0 when they each scored 1:08 apart midway through the first.
Stone finished off a centering pass from Pacioretty on the rush for his third goal and leads the Knights with 13 points through eight games.
Marchessault notched his first tally since opening night when he cleaned up a rebound at 10:40.
“Every time you score a goal, that’s a momentum swing for us,” Karlsson said. “To get an early one, it’s great. You get a second one, that’s also great, and you keep rolling. Definitely we feed off that energy. It was a good first period, a lot of energy.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
