Golden Knights Game 58, Checkmate; Lines, Notes, & How to Watch vs Kings

The Vegas Golden Knights (34-17-6) are riding a three-game winning streak but will face a tough challenge tonight. They’ll meet the Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Kings (30-17-7) at Crypto.com Arena.

The puck drops just after 7:30 p.m.

The Golden Knights are coming off a big 3-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks in their first game back from the 4 Nations Face-Off break on Saturday. Ivan Barbashev snapped a 17-game goalless drought, and Brandon Saad scored his second as a Golden Knight, but the real story was Adin Hill. Hill stopped 33 of the 34 shots he faced and came up big in the third period. 

The Kings have won four out of their last five games, including Saturday against the Utah Hockey Club. Despite Barrett Hayton recording the first hat trick in UHC history, the Kings withstood a late push and won 5-3.

Ilya Samsonov will start. He has a record of 4-2-0 and an average save percentage of .932 in six career games against the Kings.

Darcy Kuemper starts in net for the Kings. Kuemper has a record of 7-7-3 and an average save percentage of .928 in 18 career games against the Golden Knights.

Golden Knights Lines

Ivan Barbashev-Jack Eichel-Victor Olofsson
Raphaël Lavoie-Tomáš Hertl-Pavel Dorofeyev
Brandon Saad-Brett Howden-Mark Stone
Tanner Pearson-Nicolas Roy-Keegan Kolesar

Defense

Nicolas Hague-Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin-Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb-Kaedan Korczak

Goaltenders: Adin Hill/Ilya Samsonov

Projected Kings Lines

Alex Turcotte-Anže Kopitar-Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala-Quinton Byfield-Alex Laferriere
Warren Foegele-Philip Danault-Trevor Moore
Tanner Jeannot-Trevor Lewis

Defense

Mikey Anderson-Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson-Drew Doughty
Jacob Moverare-Jordan Spence
Brandt Clarke

Goaltenders: Darcy Kuemper/David Rittich

Special Teams

Golden Knights power play: 27.4%, 4th. Golden Knights penalty kill: 77.1%, 21st.
Kings power play: 15.2%, 29th. Kings penalty kill: 81.9%, tied for 5th

Game Notes

Tonight’s matchup will be the third meeting between the Golden Knights and the Kings this season. The Golden Knights won the first meeting 6-1 off a 2-2-4 performance from Tomáš Hertl. The Kings took the second 6-3 to tie the season series.

Tanner Pearson, who spent the first six years of his NHL career with the Kings– and won a cup with them in 2014– skates in his 699th career game tonight. 

In recent years, Tomáš Hertl has had the Kings’ number. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Hertl has scored goals and 16 points in 12 games against the Kings. This includes two four-point games– the aforementioned one earlier this season and a four-assist night in January of 2022.

Anže Kopitar has the most career goals (15) and career points (39) against the Golden Knights than any other player in the league. The Kings play eleven forwards and seven defensemen, so the Golden Knights should expect to see Kopitar on the ice quite a bit.

Drew Doughty played his first game of the season before the break after being injured in a preseason game against the Golden Knights. It was unintentional– Doughty made a play for the puck and fell awkwardly into the boards. I don’t expect any resulting nastiness. I do, however, expect a great game from Doughty. He played very well in the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament and had a three-point night (1-2-3) against the Utah Hockey Club in the Kings’ first game after the break.

The Kings sit seven points behind the Golden Knights in the standings but have played three fewer games. Tonight’s matchup has a four-point swing in the race for the Pacific Division.

The Kings’ organization held a charity event on Sunday to celebrate first responders and raise money for those affected by the California wildfires. Very, very classy.

The Golden Knights have a record of 14-11-3 on the road this season; the Kings are 18-3-2 at home.

How to Watch

TV: Vegas 34

Radio: FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340