Kings' comeback falls short vs. Golden Knights in rare road loss

Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev battles Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud for control of the puck.

By Mark Anderson

Associated Press

Dec. 28, 2023 Updated 11:26 PM PT

LAS VEGAS — Logan Thompson made 32 saves, bouncing back from a shaky performance, and the Vegas Golden Knights stopped a four-game slide by holding off the Kings for a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Jack Eichel, Michael Amadio and William Karlsson scored for Vegas — all in the first two periods. The Golden Knights had dropped five of six overall.

“It’s our culture to be winning in this building,” Knights forward Paul Cotter said. “I think this is the start, hopefully, of a nice little streak going here.”

The Kings had won four of five. Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Trevor Moore also scored. Cam Talbot made 29 saves.

Thompson surrendered four goals on the Ducks’ first nine shots during a 5-2 loss Wednesday night, but then stopped 14 of the next 15. He carried that play into the matchup with the Kings.

Coach Bruce Cassidy was critical of his goalies after the loss to the Ducks. That position has been hit hard by injuries for the second season in a row. Adin Hill, who is 10-2-2 with a 1.93 goals-against average, hasn’t played since Nov. 30 because of a lower-body injury. Thompson, an All-Star as a rookie last season, has been in and out of the lineup with injuries.

“I think mentally this was the toughest month of my career,” Thompson said. “Just taking a step back and being grateful I’m in the NHL. I don’t know how long I’m going to be in the NHL and how long I’ll be a Vegas Golden Knight, but I come to the rink every day with a smile on my face.”

Thompson said he wanted to return to the crease right after the loss to the Ducks.

“I need to be better,” he said. “I expect a lot more out of me.”

He got help from his teammates, who blocked a season-high 34 shots.

“Our guys will play hard for whoever’s in there,” Cassidy said. “We’re going to do our part there. We just want the goaltender, not to win us games, we just don’t want them to lose games.”

It was just the second regulation road loss for the Kings, who are 13-2-1 away from home.

Knights defenseman Ben Hutton didn’t play the final two periods because of an upper-body injury.

With chances at a premium during a defensive first period, Eichel took advantage of a small opening. Ivan Barbashev delivered a cross-ice pass to Eichel, who beat Talbot high from the left circle. Eichel has 40 points in 37 games.

Vegas twice extended that lead to two goals in the second period. Amadio scored off a rush after receiving a pass from Pavel Dorofeyev, and Karlsson scored his 15th goal from the slot on a pass from Cotter from behind the goal line.

Cotter has four points in his past four games and eight for December. He had seven in the first two months.

“I think the disappointing part for me is the type of goals we gave up,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “A couple of them were gifts. I really thought the second goal killed us.”

Kopitar got his 14th goal at 13:07, with Adrian Kempe recording his 20th assist on the play. Kopitar has 32 points in 32 games, and Kempe has 31.

Kevin Fiala scored midway through the third period on a blast from the left point, but the goal was wiped out because of goaltender interference by Moore.

Moore made up for it by scoring on a 6-on-5 with 1:59 remaining. It was his 17th of the season.

“I thought as the game wore on, we got more connected,” McLellan said. “When they have the lead, they’re going to defend a little bit more. We spent more time in their zone. They did an outstanding job of blocking shots and clearing the net, which they’re very good at.”

Up next for the Kings: vs. Edmonton at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.