*Photo from the Eagle Tribune*
The 3rd game played on the first day of action after an extended holiday break in the NHL provided some offensive fireworks. Jonathan Marchessault scored twice, Chandler Stephenson scored, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
The last game the Golden Knights played before the pause was a 4-3 loss at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning. With this win over the Kings, Vegas improves to 6-1-0 in their last 7 games, and hold a 21-12-0 record this season, first place in the Pacific Division, while the Kings sit in 6th place.
Asked about how the team has been playing, Stephenson said that "They get the job done. Everybody that is in the lineup is experienced and knows how to just kind of have a greasy, hard-working road game, so I think that was a little emphasis tonight."
4 goals were scored in the first period, and all 4 came within 1:16 of each other, from the first goal to the 4th. Reilly Smith got Vegas on the board with a power play goal, followed by Keegan Kolesar scoring 27 seconds later to make it 2-0 Vegas. Adrian Kempe then scored for the Kings, followed by Marchessault, and it was 3-1 Golden Knights after one period.
The second period jumped out to a quick start, with Stephenson scoring on the power play 1:21 into the period, making it 4-1 Vegas on his 10th goal of the season. Mattias Janmark scored shortly after that, making it 5-1 in favor of Vegas 2:47 into the period. Trevor Moore scored later in the period for the Kings to cut it to a 5-2 game.
Starting the 3rd period scoring was Marchessault, tallying his second goal of the night 1:55 into the game, lengthening the lead to 6-2. Just under 4 minutes later, Alex Iafallo scored his 10th goal of the season 5:50 into the 3rd, making it 6-3, which stood still for the rest of the game.
Asked about the quick spurt of 4 goals in 1:16, Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton said that "Yeah, that was pretty crazy. I mean, not every time you're watching or playing a game there's that many goals that quick. So that was good to see a couple of the boys bury a couple goals. That was fun."
Getting the start in goal with Robin Lehner's status up in the air was Laurent Brossoit, who performed well to give Vegas the win. Brossoit turned aside 24 of the 27 shots on goal the Kings sent his way, posting a .889 save percentage, enough to get the win. Brossoit's record increased to 7-3-0 in 9 starts and 3 relief appearances.
On the other side of the ice, Jonathan Quick got the start in net, and continued his struggles against Vegas since they came into the league. In his latest start, Quick saved 10 of 15 shots before he got pulled, being replaced by Garrett Sparks. Quick's record dropped to 8-7-4 in 19 starts this season.
Up next, the Golden Knights face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, with Lehner to start if he's healthy enough to go. The Kings host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, with Quick likely to start again.
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