LAS VEGAS — The passion was palpable as fans waved golden glowsticks before Thursday’s game between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings at T-Mobile Arena.
An announced crowd of 18,404, the second-largest of the season, filed in anticipating a heavyweight bought between two of the best teams in the Pacific Division and Western Conference. Energy, excitement and tension pulsated throughout the usual pregame theatrics.
What came after all that buildup was a first-round knockout.
The Knights delivered an opening blow so staggering the third-place Kings couldn’t recover. Two of the first three shots Los Angeles goaltender Joonas Korpisalo saw went past him. Two of the next three did as well.
The Knights, after taking a 4-0 first-period lead, never looked back in a 5-2 victory that all but clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The team only needs a single point from its final three games to guarantee a top-two finish in the Pacific.
Right wing Jonathan Marchessault said Thursday morning this was “probably the biggest game of the year for us.”
A win would keep the Knights (49-22-8) three points clear of second-place Edmonton with three games to go. A regulation loss would reduce the gap to one.
The Knights’ urgency from the jump, especially after a potential Kings goal was called offside 2:26 in, suggested they understood the magnitude of the moment. They chased Korpisalo after 21:02.
The third line did most of the Knights’ early damage. Left wing Ivan Barbashev, center Chandler Stephenson and right wing Phil Kessel each had a goal by the end of their first three shifts together. Barbashev had a plus-3 rating after 1:08 of ice time.
Center Nicolas Roy added to the onslaught with a power-play goal with 8:37 left in the first. Marchessault made it 5-0 only 1:02 into the second, leading Korpisalo to get pulled for Pheonix Copley.
The Kings (45-24-10) clawed back before the second intermission. Goals from center Anze Kopitar and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov made the score 5-2.
The Knights’ lead ultimately proved too much to overcome.Their early display of dominance extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2), while extending Los Angeles’ losing streak to two.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. Goalie decision
Thursday provided a major hint as to which way the Knights are leaning in net before the playoffs.
Laurent Brossoit got the start in the key matchup instead of Jonathan Quick, who spent 16 years in Los Angeles and won two Stanley Cups with the Kings. Brossoit made 30 saves to improve to 5-0-3 this season.
The crease may still get more crowded. Injured goaltenders Logan Thompson and Adin Hill skated separately from the rest of the team Thursday morning, indicating they are inching closer toward being available. Coach Bruce Cassidy said he didn’t have a timeline for when either would be ready to play.
2. Third-line magic
Cassidy swapped Barbashev with rookie left wing Pavel Dorofeyev on Thursday. He wanted to see how Dorofeyev would fare in an elevated role with Marchessault and center Jack Eichel.
Cassidy ended up giving a different line a spark. Stephenson finished with three points, and Barbashev and Kessel each had a goal and an assist.
Stephenson scored his first non-empty-net goal in 13 games. He recorded at least three points for the fourth time this season and the first time since Dec. 31.
3. Hague brawls
The game almost turned scary for the Knights 8:28 into the first period when Kings right wing Zack MacEwen drove defenseman Ben Hutton into the boards.
Defenseman Nic Hague immediately fought MacEwen to make his opponent answer for the hit. Hague was given instigator, fighting and misconduct penalties. MacEwen, in addition to being called for fighting, was given a five-minute boarding penalty that led to Roy’s power-play goal.
Hutton returned to the ice 3:38 after the hit and played the rest of the game.
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