Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings Pick & Prediction OCTOBER 30th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The Vegas Golden Knights will attempt to enhance their winning streak to five games as they make their way to face the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday evening.
The Golden Knights are fresh off a 5-0 victory against the Calgary Flames on Monday, completing a perfect four-game homestand.
Vegas has improved their NHL-leading average of goals per game to 4.70, while also widening their league-leading goal differential to plus-19.
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"At times, your team just gets hot. We may be experiencing one of those (stretches)," stated Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy. "I would love to maintain this pace, don't get me wrong. Things are going our way. We are making smart plays. We are increasing our leads."
Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has contributed 12 points in 10 games, and even the fourth line of Cole Schwindt, Nicolas Roy, and Keegan Kolesar continue to pose a threat to opposing teams.
The trio combined for three goals and five assists against Calgary.
"When you are using (the fourth line) against top lines, which we do often, you do not shy away from matchups and they are a danger to score," Cassidy explained. "It makes us that much more formidable. The other team's line cannot simply do as they please, knowing that these guys will never score on us."
Kolesar has never scored more than eight goals in any of his previous five seasons with the Golden Knights, but he has already reached half of that total this season.
"He has been looking really impressive," said Roy. "During training camp, he was really fast and has improved his shot significantly. He has been solid all around. He is a big body (6-foot-2, 216 pounds), has a great shot, and is fun to play with for sure."
The Kings visited the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night and lost 4-2, ending their two-game winning streak.
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One of the highlights for the Kings was a goal by Akil Thomas, who played for the first time this season after being a healthy scratch for the first nine games.
"It is my first time being healthy (scratched for that long), watching from home so much, so it has been a bit tougher, I guess, because I am healthy and able to play, so it has been tough," Thomas said before the game. "I have been using this time to get in some good workouts and skates, and I feel better physically than I did at the start of camp, so I feel like I have gained something from it, for sure."
Before the game, Los Angeles winger Kevin Fiala was scratched for missing a team meeting. Fiala is second on the team with four goals, but he is also tied for the team lead with 12 penalty minutes.
Fiala was benched for the final 24:05 against the Utah Hockey Club last Saturday after receiving his second penalty of the game, which led to a Utah goal one second after the power play ended. However, the Kings still managed to win 3-2.
Los Angeles currently ranks 29th in the NHL on the power play at 13.2 percent, after going 0-for-6 with the man advantage against San Jose. The Kings also allowed a short-handed breakaway late in the second period, when the game was still tied 1-1 although the Sharks did not score.
Darcy Kuemper is expected to start in goal for Los Angeles on Wednesday after David Rittch made 17 saves against the Sharks. Kuemper was out for nearly two weeks due to a lower-body injury before making 24 saves in the win against Utah.
The 13-year veteran has a record of 6-7-3 against the Golden Knights, with a .930 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average both better than his overall career stats of .914 and 2.62.
For Vegas, Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov have been alternating in net for the past four games, with Samsonov expected to start on Wednesday if the pattern continues. Samsonov has an impressive career record against the Kings: 4-1-0 with a .960 save percentage and a 1.22 GAA.
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings Recap OCT 30TH 2024
Anze Kopitar had a goal and two assists to help the Los Angeles Kings end the visiting Vegas Golden Knights' four-game winning streak with a 6-3 victory on Wednesday night.
Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala each contributed a goal and an assist, Brandt Clarke had three assists and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for the Kings, who have won three of four following a 4-2 loss at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice, Tanner Pearson also scored and Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves for the Golden Knights, who gave up the game's first four goals.
Warren Foegele scored a highlight-reel goal to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 13:58 of the first period.
Samsonov came out of his crease to stop a length-of-the-ice pass, but the puck went to Foegele, who scored with a no-look backhand that slid between the pads of Samsonov as he slid back into position.
Kempe stretched the lead to 2-0 at 14:40 after he retrieved a loose puck in the neutral and drove into the Vegas zone before scoring with a wrist shot from above the right circle.
Alex Laferriere collected a pass from Mikey Anderson while cutting into the slot and turned and scored with a wrist shot for a 3-0 lead at 10:11 of the second period.
Kopitar scored 44 seconds later to stretch the lead to 4-0.
Clarke collected a pass off the wall from Kempe, spun away from a defender at the top of the right circle and made a backdoor feed to Kopitar for the tap-in goal.
The Kings turned the puck over behind their net and Alexander Holtz made a backhand pass out front to Pearson, who scored with a one-timer to cut the lead to 4-1 at 14:58 of the second.
Shortly afterward, Vegas forward Tomas Hertl left the game after taking a big hit from Anderson and he did not return.
Fiala scored with a wrist shot from the right circle off a drop pass from Kopitar to make it 5-1 at 6:23 of the third period. It was the 800th assist of Kopitar's NHL career.
Joel Edmundson followed with a goal from the left point to increase the lead to 6-1 at 8:03.
Dorofeyev scored from in close during a 5-on-3 power play to cut it to 6-2 at 11:04, and again from a backhand to make it 6-3 at 17:03.