Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 win over Kings beat Golden Knights to stay perfect on the road

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist and the Los Angeles Kings won their fourth straight with a 4-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.

The Kings became the eighth team in league history to win each of their first seven road games to start a season, and the first team to accomplish this feat since the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils in 2009.

For the second of only three meetings this season, the Kings and Golden Knights take their rivalry to Sin City on Wednesday night. Last month, the teams met in Los Angeles, with the reigning Stanley Cup Champions showcasing their might in a 4-3 shootout victory on a goal by Jack Eichel. The Kings had a 2–0 advantage in that game near the halftime mark, but the visiting team scored three unanswered goals before Drew Doughty finally tied things up with about a minute remaining in regulation.

Following that game, coach Todd McClellan took his club on the road – where they won three in a row last week, extending their winning streak to six straight while playing away from Crypto Arena.

Can they keep this up?

Well, there will be a lot of eyes on this Pacific Division showdown at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as the game will be televised nationally on TNT.

Every road game L.A. plays right now presents an opportunity to make history. This is the first time in franchise history that the Kings have won their first six road games to start the season and remain the only undefeated team on the road in the 2023–24 campaign.

Additionally, only seven teams in NHL history have won their first seven road contests. Still, however, McLellan will want his team to focus on securing another two points as they continue to chase their first-place division rival.

And although this is technically the fourth game of their road trip, the Kings were actually able to stay home in Los Angeles for a few days before heading back to Vegas for tonight’s matchup. McClellan used that time to get on the ice with his group for some drills and also gave some of the veterans some extra rest. Doughty and goaltender Cam Talbot were both given maintenance days on Monday. It was a well-deserved holiday for both of them. Talbot has been used heavily between the pipes during this recent hot streak and Doughty (26:07 TOI/GP) leads all skaters in time on ice per game in 2023-24.

He’s also not the only league-leading defenseman to appear in this game. Golden Knights blueliner Shea Theodore entered Tuesday as the leader in total miles skated this season (45.84 miles), according to NHL EDGE data.

His overall team stats also provided an interesting infographic for tonight’s matchup:

In other news, Kings captain Anze Kopitar and PL Dubois were seen wearing neck guards during practice the past few days. Following the tragic accident and recent passing of Adam Johnson, there has been talk about whether or not NHLers should wear some type of protection around the neck to prevent this from happening again. Several other leagues, including the OHL, WHL and USHL, have taken steps to mandate neck guards.

As for Kopitar, his goal Saturday in Philadelphia was his sixth of the year and puts him tied with Trevor Moore for the team-lead this season. This was also the 399th goal of his career. When Kopitar reaches 400 goals, he will become the fourth player in Kings franchise history to reach the feat, joining Luc Robitaille (557), Marcel Dion (550) and Dave Taylor (432). Additionally, entering tonight, Kopitar needed just two points to tie Robitaille for the second-most points in club history with 1,151.

Defenseman Matt Roy is set to skate in his 300th career NHL game tonight and forward Kevin Fiala will play in his 500th career game.

Roy would become the ninth defenseman from the 2015 NHL Draft to reach this milestone. In 299 career games, Roy has scored 19 goals and 66 assists for 85 points with a plus-49 rating, third-highest among blueliners in his draft class.

LA Kings predicted lineup vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore-Denault-Kaliyev
Fiala – Dubois – Laferriere
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Lewis

Anderson-Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
England-Spence

Talbot (Starter)
Copley

Probable scratches: Anderson-Dolan, Bjornfot

Injured: Arvidsson

Main game information
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm Pacific time and will be televised by TNT.

across the ice
Vegas suffered its first loss in regulation on Sunday, when it fell 4-2 to Anaheim.

Here’s how the Golden Knights lined up in their morning skate this morning:

Barbashev – Aichel – Marchessault
bearer – amadio – stone
Cotter – Carlson – Dorofeyev
Rondberg – Howden – Kolesar

McNabb – Theodore
martinez – pietrangelo
Hutton – Pachal

hill