It was a playoff feel inside Crypto.com Arena on Monday night. Facing off again the division leading Vegas Golden Knights, the Kings moved within five points of their rival in desert with a 5-2 back and forth win.
The Kings opened the scoring on Monday night, breaking the ice halfway into the opening period. Coming in the second half of the Kings second power play opportunity, the second power play unit struck after Quinton Byfield’s shot was deflected into the net by Trevor Moore. Moore’s tip gives him nine goals on the season. The Kings carried the 1-0 lead into the first intermission and held a 8-6 shot advantage after 20 minutes.
Momentum swung in favor of the Golden Knights in the second period. Going from a one goal deficit to a one goal lead, the Golden Knights first tied the game halfway into the period when Tomas Hertl penetrated the Kings defensive zone and fed former King Brayden McNabb in the slot for a shot that eventually beat Darcy Kuemper low blocker. The Golden Knights then took a 2-1 lead on the Kings with 3:19 remaining in the period when captain Mark Stone deflected in a Noah Hanifin point shot just above the crease. The score remained 2-1 the rest of the period, sending the Kings into the final 20 minutes of regulation looking up.
Enter period three and the Kings immediately seized the momentum back. Moore evened the game just 42 seconds into the period, setting the stage for a dominant four-goal final 20 minutes. Knotted up at 2-2 with 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Kings fourth power play opportunity went unsuccessful, but the team struck moments after as Byfield set up Warren Foegele with a beautiful pass through the slot for the eventual game-winning goal. Not done yet, the Kings added an insurance goal with 4:32 remaining when Byfield and Adrian Kempe fed Joel Edmundson for a one-timer on the blue line that made its way through traffic and into the Vegas net. Still not done, Kempe and Byfield teamed up again with helpers, this time on a beautiful backhand goal by Kevin Fiala. The goal for Fiala is his sixth in the last five games, while Byfield’s assist gave him his first career four point and four assist game.
Kuemper stopped 21 of 23 shots on the night, earning his 18th win of the season.
