Tonight the Vegas Golden Knights will square off against the Los Angeles Kings for the final time in the regular season in an important Pacific Division contest. The Golden Knights sit with a record 0f 48-22-8 and 104 points, the Edmonton Oilers are right on their heels with 103 points in 79 games played, and right behind them are the Kings with 100 points in 78 games played.
Both squads are fresh off a loss – with Vegas’ coming in OT – and it will be the 4th meeting of the 2022-23 regular season campaign.
Vegas defeated Los Angeles 4-3 on October 11th, the Kings defeated the Golden Knights 4-2 on December 27th, and the last meeting on January 7th ended 5-1 in favor of the Kings. A lot of things have changed since that last meeting.
Goalie Matchup
Laurent Brossoit: Brossoit has played pretty well for Vegas since returning to the team, and in 7 starts has a record of 4-0-3, with a .918 save percentage and a 2.50 goals against average. He also has posted a 3.52 GSAA (goals saved above average) and a 3.7 GSAx (goals saved above expected) per Evolving-Hockey.
He made 23 appearances with the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL, and went 8-11-3 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average.
Brossoit gets the start tonight over Jonathan Quick, a goalie who previously spent his career with the Kings. Quick joined the team by way of Columbus after Los Angeles traded the two-time Stanley Cup champion in a deal which landed them Joonas Korpisalo.
It’s been a mixed bag for the 2nd-winningest American goaltender in league history, and in 8 games he’s gone 5-2-1 with a .895 save percentage and a 3.43 goals-against average. Quick will be on the bench this evening, and will serve as Laurent Brossoit’s backup.
Joonas Korpisalo: Korpisalo has been tremendous since joining the Kings, and owns a 5-2-1 record with a .937 save percentage and a 1.75 goals against average. Per Evolving-Hockey, he also has a 6.98 GSAA, and a 9.46 GSAx. This is notable, because in 28 games with Columbus he had a 6.83 GSAA, and a 10.18 GSAx. This highlights how good he’s been for Los Angeles, and how busy he’s been as well.
Team Comparison
Players to Watch
Los Angeles: In 28 career games vs. Vegas, Anze Kopitar has 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points. Tonight is a big game for the Kings, and Kopitar is a proven veteran who has shown the ability to elevate his game when the stakes become higher.
Vegas: In 13 career games vs. Los Angeles, Eichel has 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points. He also has 13 points in his last 10 games, and 6 in his last 5, and is rounding into form with his first trip the playoffs coming very soon.
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev – Jack Eichel – Jonathan Marchessault
Reilly Smith – William Karlsson – Pavel Dorofeyev
Brett Howden – Nicolas Roy – Phil Kessel
Michael Amadio – Teddy Blueger – Keegan Kolesar
Alec Martinez – Alex Pietrangelo
Ben Hutton – Nicolas Hague
Brayden McNabb – Zach Whitecloud
Laurent Brossoit
Jonathan Quick
Kings
Quinton Byfield – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore – Phillip Danault – Viktor Arvidsson
Alex Iafallo – Blake Lizotte – Arthur Kaliyev
Carl Grundstrom – Rasmus Kupari – Zack MacEwen
Vladislav Gavrikov – Drew Doughty
Sean Durzi – Matt Roy
Tobias Bjornfot – Sean Walker
Joonas Korpisalo
Pheonix Copley
How to watch
Game 79: Golden Knights vs. Kings
When: 7 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena – Las Vegas, NV
TV: AT&T SportsNet
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM
Remaining regular-season games
April 8 at Dallas
April 11 vs. Seattle
April 13 at Seattle