The Vegas Golden Knights ended 2023 on a high note with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, and snapped a 4-game losing streak in the process. Things haven’t been going all too well for the Golden Knights as of late, but they hunkered down and survived a late push by the Kings to secure two points and a much needed victory. Logan Thompson once again was between the pipes for the Golden Knights, and he came up big with 32 saves on 34 shots faced. Jack Eichel (16), Michael Amadio (6), and William Karlsson (15) scored, and the Golden Knights can now look forward to the Winter Classic vs. the Seattle Kraken on New Year’s Day.
For those who missed the game, Eichel opened the scoring 7:38 into the game, and they got off to an even quicker start in the 2nd period when Amadio scored at the 2:27 mark to extend their lead.
Anze Kopitar cut the team’s lead to one goal, but William Karlsson answered 1:35 later to restore a 2-goal lead.
The 3rd period featured a 3-1 score line for the first 18:01, mostly due to a Kings goal that was called back for goaltender interference, but Trevor Moore got the Kings within a goal of tying the game while Cam Talbot was on the bench to give the Kings a 6-on-5 advantage. The Kings continue to press again while their net was empty, but Vegas hunkered down and blocked some key shots and did enough until the final whistle blew.
Here a quick look at the tale of the tape in how both sides looked via the stats from NHL dot com.
Lastly, here’s how the game looked via an expected goals perspective as calculated by MoneyPuck.com
The Golden Knights are off on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and are back in action on Monday at 12:00 p.m. live from T-Mobile Park in Seattle.