*Photo from the Las Vegas Review-Journal*
A month and a half later, Robin Lehner is back in the goal crease for the Vegas Golden Knights. He sure looked sharp. Max Pacioretty scored twice, Lehner got the win, and the Golden Knights topped the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-2 win Friday night in Lehner's return from a concussion.
Pacioretty got two quick goals for Vegas in the first period, scoring goals 15 and 16 in the first period. Combine that with a Alex Iafallo goal for the Kings, and it was 2-1 Vegas after one period. In the second, Trevor Moore scored to tie things up for the Kings, but William Karlsson scored his 7th goal of the season following Moore's goal to put Vegas right back in front. In the 3rd period, William Carrier's first goal of the season gave Vegas a 4-2 lead that they didn't give up.
Pacioretty said of the win for Vegas that "Everybody on our team played a strong game tonight, and Robin obviously included. It's not easy to come back after such a long time off, and he kind of picked up and fit in right away, which is nice to see."
Lehner got the win in a solid showing for the Golden Knights, who no longer have to ride Marc-Andre Fleury for 15 straight starts now that Lehner is healthy again. Lehner saved 23 shots out of 25 that came his way in the win. His record increased to 4-1-1 this season with the win, while Vegas has a 21-6-1 record, first in the West Division, including a 5 game win streak.
Kings coach Todd McClellan said of the loss that "We take a punch or two to the face, and then we get ourselves off the mat, we continue to battle. And now that's in our game, that's in our DNA. That's a moral victory. I think we're a better team than we played tonight. I think we showed 'em a little too much respect and disrespected what we're capable of doing."
Jonathan Quick was the starter for the Kings in net, getting tagged with the loss. Quick stopped 29 shots out of the 33 that came his way in the game. Quick's record dropped to 6-5-2 this season with the loss, while the Kings sit in 5th in the West Division with a 12-11-6 record.
The Kings and Golden Knights face off again Sunday night, with Fleury expected to start for Vegas. Quick's backup Cal Petersen is slated to start for the Kings.
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