7 Observations: Golden Knights Stifled in Preseason Home Opener

The Vegas Golden Knights played their home opener on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings. Much like on Sunday’s outing, they struggled to score. They finally snapped their long goalless drought in the third period, but couldn’t put another past Anton Forsberg and fell to the Kings by a score of 3-1.

The Kings opened the scoring 5:06 into the first period. Brian Dumoulin found Taylor Ward in the slot, and Ward wristed one past Adin Hill.

The Golden Knights had two power plays in the first period, but couldn’t convert on either. Despite outshooting the Kings 14-12 in the first, none of their scoring chances were particularly threatening. 

The Golden Knights switched Adin Hill for Akira Schmid halfway through the second period; the Kings kept Anton Forsberg in for the full preseason game. The Kings had a power play, and the Golden Knights’ penalty kill bent but didn’t break. The Golden Knights had two power play opportunities; they didn’t convert on either. However, their power play to end the second was about as good as one can be without resulting in a goal.

The Kings doubled their lead at 7:57 into the third period. Christoffer Sedoff flubbed a clearing attempt, and Liam Greentree collected the puck at center ice. Greentree entered the zone and threaded a pass to Alex Turcotte, who found Jeff Malott for a backdoor tap-in. Akira Schmid got across to make the save, but Malott banged in the rebound.

The Golden Knights responded quickly and finally beat Anton Forsberg 8:38 into the third. After Ben Hutton impeded what would’ve been a clear-cut breakaway for Liam Greentree, the Golden Knights took the puck back the other way. Brandon Saad found Viliam Kmec all alone in the slot, who fired it home.

Kmec’s goal gave the Golden Knights life, but try as they might, they couldn’t find another. They tried to pull Schmid for the extra attacker, but couldn’t get through the neutral zone. Trevor Moore iced the game with 1:02 remaining in the third period, and that was that.

Golden Knights Game Notes

1. At 8:38 in the third period, Viliam Kmec officially ended the Golden Knights’ goalless drought at 135:57. And what a shot, too.

2. Pavel Dorofeyev left the game in the first period. About five minutes into the second, the Golden Knights announced that he wouldn’t return due to a lower-body injury. A star player getting injured during the preseason is the one thing teams hope to avoid. 

3. William Karlsson played a wildly entertaining shift without his stick in the second period. I mean, he really looked fit to join the rush. Instead, he kicked it ahead to Mark Stone, who nearly made something out of nothing. I thought that was worth mentioning.

4. And speaking of Mark Stone– he’s so, so very talented around the goal line on the power play. During the first period, he gave the Golden Knights a truly golden opportunity to score, but Tomáš Hertl flubbed the shot.

5. The Golden Knights are clearly ready for Noah Hanifin to step into an elevated role. That being said, playing him 26:11 during a preseason game is something else. He played nearly ten minutes in the second period for a total of 18:24 through two. 

6. I’m still waiting to be ‘wow’ed by a player vying for that 13th forward role. After Pavel Dorofeyev left the game, Cassidy tried Mathieu Cataford, Braeden Bowman, and Raphaël Lavoie with Brandon Saad and Tomáš Hertl. I’m not sure any of them made steps to grab the job.

7. I thought Adin Hill and Akira Schmid both played well tonight. The Golden Knights put them both in difficult positions on more than one occasion, and they answered the bell. Schmid, in particular, was called upon to make some tough saves, and he did just that.