What you need to know ahead of the Kings' game against the Vegas Golden Knights:
When: Sunday, March 9th, at 5:00 PST
Where: T-Mobile Arena - Las Vegas, NV
Watch: FanDuel Sports Network
Listen: LA Kings APP & ESPN LA APP
Records:
Kings: 32 - 20 - 9 (73 points), 3rd in Pacific Division
Golden Knights: 38 - 18 - 6 (82 points), 1st in Pacific Division
Kings Team Stats:
Power Play: 14.8% (30th)
Penalty Kill: 81.4% (7th)
Faceoff Win Percentage: 51.0% (13th)
GF/GP: 2.79 (24th)
GA/GP: 2.62 (5th)
Golden Knights Team Stats:
Power Play: 28.0% (3rd)
Penalty Kill: 76.8% (23rd)
Faceoff Win Percentage: 50.5% (16th)
GF/GP: 3.34 (6th)
GA/GP: 2.68 (7th)
Kings Notes:
- No skater has recorded more goals (15) or points (15-24=39) against Vegas all-time than Anze Kopitar while defenseman Drew Doughty’s 19 points (4-15=19) paces all blueliners all-time.
- The Kings aim to take the season series against the Pacific Division rival Vegas Golden Knight, three games to one (2-1-0)
- In the Kings’ last meeting with Vegas on Feb. 24, forward Quinton Byfield registered his first career four-point and four-assist game (0-4=4). By doing so, he also became the first Kings skater 22 years of age or younger to record at least two 30-point seasons since Drew Doughty (3; 2009-12)
- With last night’s overtime victory over St. Louis, the Kings improved their home record to 20-3-4 (27 GP), marking the fastest to the 20-win mark at home in franchise history (previous best: 20-9-1 in 30GP, 2005-06).
Golden Knights Notes:
- The Golden Knights are 15-3-1 against the Pacific Division and have outscored their opponents 48-33 in those games. Of their three regulation losses, two of those have come at the hands of the Kings. Heading into Sunday's season series finale, the Golden Knights are 1-2-0 against the Kings this season.
- The Golden Knights enter Sunday having won the first four games of their five-game home stand and have outscored their opponents 18-7 during that stretch.
- Like the Kings, the Golden Knights have had great success on home ice. The Golden Knights have actually earned the most points in the league at home (24-6-3, 51 points) and have the NHL's third-best points percentage, trailing only the Kings and Winnipeg Jets.
- Former Stanley Cup champion with the Golden Knights Reilly Smith has returned to Sin City after being acquired from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline for Brendan Brisson and a third-round draft pick. Now set to play in his 900th career game this evening, Smith has totaled 542 points (223-319=542) across his 14-year career.
- The Golden Knights have 11 different players who have reached double digits in goals so far this season and are tied with the Montréal Canadiens for first in the league in that category.
Players to Watch:
Kings: The newly-acquired forward Andrei Kuzmenko, who made his Kings debut last night vs. St Louis, skating in 16:02 minutes of time-on-ice (TOI). He is the first player to franchise history to wear #96.
Golden Knights: Jack Eichel, whose 55 assists ranks fifth in the NHL. Riding a four-game assist streak (1-5=6), Eichel's last assist gave him a single season career high, surpassing his previous career high of 54 helpers set in 2018-19. Eichel also sits just seven points shy of equaling his career high of 82 points, also set in 2018-19.
