In no way was it pretty, but they don’t ask how; they ask how many, and the Los Angeles Kings found a way to pull off what looked to be an almost impossible task, coming back late in the third period down two. After taking a 3-1 lead midway through the second period, the Kings allowed four unanswered before a Trevor Moore shorthanded goal gave them a spark. Somehow, someway, they stuck with it, ultimately defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 in the shootout to pick up their first win of the season.
“That one gave us a chance, because we’re shorthanded again too, right? So now you’re looking at the clock, you’ve got to kill the penalty, hopefully, and then you’re still down by two. That brought a lot of life onto the bench, for sure. Got us back in,” Kings head coach Jim Hiller said.
Related: Kings Takeaways From 4-1 Opening Night Loss to Avalanche
It’s been just two days since the 2025-26 NHL regular season commenced, and no team has been as busy as the Kings, who have played twice in two nights. Not only are back-to-backs tough to begin with, especially right off the bat, but for the Kings to have to play two nights in a row against two teams that almost everyone would classify as Stanley Cup contenders is a whole other beast.
At the end of the day, two points are what matter most, and the Kings were able to obtain them, but don’t get it twisted, this was in no way, shape, or form a game they are going to want to replicate very often, at least on the defensive side of things. It was a roller coaster of events that saw some highs, some lows, and some mistakes from opening night that showed up again. Defensively, it’s been an extremely rough start for the Kings, who have been tormented by opposing teams’ top lines. Furthermore, their transition game has been almost non-existent; puck movement from the back end and breaking out cleanly have been a struggle.
After having one of the lowest goals against league-wide last season, allowing nine goals in two games is not the direction you want to be heading in, if being defensively sound is what you pride yourself on. The good news for the Kings, at least last night in Vegas, is that their offensive game picked up the slack. The Kings were outplayed and outchanced, and the Golden Knights made them pay for almost every mistake they made, but the Kings’ ability to capitalize on a lot of their quality looks and Golden Knights’ goaltender Adin Hill’s inability to make that big save kept them in a game that they probably didn’t deserve to be in.
It’s truly a small sample size so far, and way too early to be drawing major conclusions, but based off what we have seen from the Kings over these past two games is that this defensive group is undoubtedly weaker. There’s not much of an answer to slowing down opposing teams’ superstars, and the Kings are going to need that extra gear from their offense on a nightly basis, as we saw in Vegas. Again, it’s still early, but these are a few observations so far.
Second Period Nightmares
The trend so far for the Kings seems to be collapsing in the second period. Everything goes out the window, and it just becomes a complete dysfunctional mess, from the penalties taken to the constant turnovers. It’s been twice in a row now where they have been scored on three times in the second period.
The Kings had a better start in Vegas than they did at home the night before, which was expected. Adrian Kempe said postgame against the Avalanche that they wanted a chance to bounce back right away, and you could tell that’s exactly what they wanted to do in the first period. But as soon as the second period started, their good start and two-goal insurance began to wither away quickly. I don’t know if the Kings necessarily took their foot off the gas or the Golden Knights just started to put it together, but these second periods have been ridiculously brutal for the Kings.
It’s worth mentioning that these are also the first games for the opposition as well, and it seems like once they get that first period under their belt and come out in the second more connected and comfortable, the Kings’ blue line starts to get exposed, and exposed fast. Once the Avalanche and Golden Knights figured it out, it wasn’t pretty.
Penalties Kill, Again
Penalties continue to torch the Kings, who have now given up 12 power-play opportunities in two games. Six to the Avalanche and another six to the Golden Knights, who did more damage on their opportunities, more specifically, Pavel Dorofeyev. Just like the Avalanche, you are essentially begging the Golden Knights to score if you are giving them six chances to do so. With a power-play unit as lethal as theirs, one that also adopts the five-forward configuration, the last thing you want to do is continuously send them on the man advantage.
The Kings took some bad ones, but none were bigger or more game-changing than Alex Turcotte’s five-minute major for boarding, which completely changed the dynamic of the game. The Kings were leading 3-1 before Turcotte landed himself in the box, and it was downhill from there. Dorofeyev brought the Golden Knights within one after burying a cross-ice feed from Mark Stone with 1:48 left on the power play. Not too long after that, Alex Laferriere was called for tripping, giving the Golden Knights a two-man advantage in which Dorofeyev potted his hat-trick goal exactly the same way he scored his second one.
All of a sudden, the Golden Knights had all the momentum, and they went on to score two more in a row before the Kings had enough. Turcotte, as good as he’s been, took an undisciplined call that could have very well played a major part in the Kings missing out on two points.
“It certainly wasn’t intentional, but you just have to understand the situation, right?” Hiller said. “For him, it’s just a matter of learning, and you can’t do it, or you don’t get on the ice. He didn’t play much in the third period, killing penalties, and cost himself some ice time too. I’m not mad at him, but he can’t do that.”
That’s the Byfield We Have Been Waiting For
Whatever version of Quinton Byfield showed up in Vegas is the version the Kings want to see every night. Everything about his game was dominant, and on both sides of the puck as well. The Kings have a potential superstar in Byfield, and last night against the Golden Knights, he sure looked like one.
Byfield’s reads and anticipation, followed by that long reach and stick positioning of his go together like bread and butter, and it’s really a thing of beauty. His puck tracking, speed, and reach led him to that gorgeous breakaway goal that put the Kings ahead by two. A perfect individual play that saw him pressure Golden Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon into giving the puck up before tucking a filthy one past Hill on a breakaway. He set up Brandt Clarke for the tying goal as well, feeding him a cross-crease pass just as Clarke was driving to the net. Byfield’s contributions didn’t stop there. His hard backcheck back to the front of the net allowed him to stop what looked to be a sure goal from Mitch Marner was a crucial play as well.
Finishing, distributing, defending, driving play, Byfield did it all against the Golden Knights and undoubtedly was the X-factor. It’s just another step forward in the progression to becoming the Kings’ number one center in the near future.
Forsberg Had Impressive Kings Debut
Impressive is the best way to describe Anton Forsberg’s Kings debut because there were multiple instances where he came up big to either keep the Kings within reach or keep the game going. He made 30 saves for a save percentage of .857, and while that number doesn’t look great, it was when and where he came up big that was crucial.
Let’s not forget what was thrown at him, either. Having to deal with an unbelievably good power play six times, a duo of Jack Eichel and Marner, and Dorofeyev, who just couldn’t seem to miss, nothing was easy for Forsberg. Add in the many turnovers that led to quality looks for the Golden Knights, and he was busy. As a backup goaltender, he’s not expected to come in and steal games, just give his team a chance to win, and that’s exactly what he did.
Stopping seven of eight high-danger shots, coming up big a couple of times in overtime, and ultimately shutting the door in the shootout, Forsberg played his part. The Kings were looking for an upgrade in net from David Rittich when they signed Forsberg in the offseason, and if that’s what they can expect from him on a regular basis, there’s no question that he makes their goaltending stronger than it was last season.
Picking up the win was huge, but the Kings have a lot to discuss and look over before they continue on this tough schedule. While they get a two-day break, they have the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets, up next on Saturday morning.