Comments / New

3 things from the Golden Knights’ 6-2 loss to the Kings in their rookie scrimmage

Posted on by Danny Webster

The Vegas Golden Knights took the ice for the first time as an NHL team Tuesday. Albeit, the roster was full of rookies and prospects and this game had no merit to actual NHL play, but there were people actually wearing Golden Knights jerseys in El Segundo, California.

That’s the good news. The bad news is Vegas got pummeled by the Los Angeles Kings, 6-2. No more jokes about being the only undefeated franchise in hockey, and that’s depressing.

At least 99 percent of the country didn’t see this shellacking because this hockey contest, which was available on a stream via the Kings’ website, was blacked out everywhere but Los Angeles. If you have Cox, this was a great sneak peak at what’s to come if AT&T SportsNet is not available in three weeks.

But alas, we have some takeaways from what we read.

Logan Thompson continues his strong summer

The 20-year-old netminder by way of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings had a solid developmental camp and has been steady through rookie camp. On Tuesday, Thompson carried that over to actual game competition by posting a shutout through almost two periods.

Thompson was pulled midway through the second period in favor of Jiri Patera.

Picking out the best in goaltenders during camp is hard to do, especially for young guys. Thompson, however, has remained consistent and that has to bode well for a spot in Chicago when the season starts. It’s also hard to put a lot of stock into a rookie scrimmage, but it’s early September and this is what has become of us.

A small bit of sweet revenge for Tomas Hyka

Kudos to those who picked Tomas Hyka to score the first (unofficial) goal in Golden Knights history in the office pool. Of course it came against the team that drafted him.

Hyka was the Kings’ sixth-round pick in 2012 before L.A. forfeited his rights that same year. After spending three years in the Czech Republic, Hyka is back in the states with a chance to make an NHL roster.

He’s off to a good start.

That was absurdly great stick control while going full steam at the net, and Hyka finished it off beautifully. He’s a solid goal scorer (17 in 48 games for Mlada Boleslav BK last year), so it comes as no surprise he can pull off moves like that. There are a lot of really good offensive prospects Vegas has assembled, but Hyka has flown under the radar this summer.

If anything, at least he’s the answer to a trivia question for Thanksgiving.

I am here for Golden Knights in-game Twitter shenanigans

So, you’ve probably figured out by now the Golden Knights’ Twitter game is one of the best in professional sports. If you didn’t know, the bulk of the work comes from Dan Marrazza, the team’s digital and social media editor.

We got a first glimpse of what Twitter will be like for 82 games and it is, shall we say, gold.

If you are not here for this, then what are you? The Golden Knights will play the Kings in another scrimmage in El Segundo on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The game will probably be blacked out again so make sure you keep them eyes glued to Twitter.

Talking Points