After managing just one point during a three-game eastern road trip that featured back-to-back blown third-period leads, the Vegas Golden Knights look for a positive reset as they open a four-game homestand Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings.
The three-game trek, which started with a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals and former Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson, could have been a successful one if the Golden Knights could have protected a pair of 3-2 third-period advantages.
On Thursday at Tampa Bay, the Lightning tied it 3-3 on a Brandon Hagel goal with 2:22 left, and Nikita Kucherov followed with the game-winner with 55 seconds to go.
Two nights later at defending Stanley Cup champion Florida, which was without two of its top players, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, the Panthers tied it 3-3 on a Eetu Luostarinen goal with 7:17 remaining before Gustav Forsling scored the game-winner with 17 seconds left in overtime.
Three games, one point.
“Early in the year on a road trip, you obviously want to bank in some of these points,” said forward Brett Howden, who gave Vegas a 3-2 lead over the Panthers with an unassisted backhand goal. “To only get one, I mean, it’s frustrating for sure. But we’re heading back home and we’re going to learn from it and keep building and get better.”
The Golden Knights opened the season with three consecutive wins in Las Vegas, outscoring the opposition 15-8 in the process. Besides the Tuesday game against the Kings, Vegas will host the Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks and Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames on the homestand.
“That’s not how you want a road trip to go, but at the same time we’ve got to try and fix a few things and put it behind us and get back to work at home and become homers again for the week,” Vegas forward Tanner Pearson said. “We’ve got a long week at home, and hopefully we can take advantage of that.”
Los Angeles, second in the Pacific, one point behind the Flames, will be playing the final game of a season-opening seven-game road trip necessitated by arena renovations at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings bring a two-game winning streak into the contest following a 4-1 victory on Sunday night in the Freeway Face-Off against the rival Anaheim Ducks. Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere both scored early-third-period goals following a scoreless first two periods, and Kevin Fiala and Mikey Anderson added a pair of empty-netters to seal the win.
Laferriere became the fourth player in franchise history to record consecutive game-winning goals at age 22 or younger. He also had the game-winner in a 4-1 victory at Montreal on Thursday.
Los Angeles goalie David Rittich won his second straight start filling in for the injured Darcy Kuemper, who returned to practice on Monday before the team flew to Las Vegas.
“Making progress but still not there yet,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said of Kuemper’s possible return.
Rittich needed to make just 13 saves against the Ducks, who were outshot 31-8 over the final two periods.
“We were pushing, but we were playing really good defense,” Rittich said postgame. “The L.A. Kings are known for good defense, and we showed that today.”
