Mark Stone scored with 25.5 seconds remaining to give the visiting Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday in the season opener for both teams.
The game appeared headed to overtime until Alex Pietrangelo intercepted Sean Durzi’s pass in the neutral zone. He passed ahead to Chandler Stephenson, who broke in along the right boards and hit Stone with a pass in the right circle. Stone then fired a wrist shot past goalie Jonathan Quick’s blocker side and inside the far-left post for the winner.
William Karlsson tallied a goal and an assist and Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault scored goals for Vegas, which improved to 5-1-0 in season openers. Pietrangelo and Stephenson each added a pair of assists while Logan Thompson made 27 saves.
Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist and Arthur Kaliyev and Adrian Kempe also scored for Los Angeles. Quick, making his 14th opening-night start in the last 15 seasons for the Kings, finished with 47 saves.
Vilardi made it 1-0 at the 10:36 mark of the first period as the Kings took advantage of Vegas defenseman Ben Hutton losing his stick. Quinton Byfield fed Vilardi alone at the top of the left circle, and Vilardi then fired a wrist shot through traffic and off the crossbar into the top left corner of the net.
Vegas tied it 1-1 early in the second period. The Golden Knights took advantage of a bad Los Angeles line change and broke in on a three-on-one. Karlsson fed Marchessault on the right wing, where he fired a wrist shot past Quick’s glove side.
The Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead at the 1:27 mark of the third period when Eichel, alone by the left post, roofed in a rebound of Stephenson’s shot.
Los Angeles tied it a few minutes later when Anze Kopitar took a pass on the left wing from Durzi, circled behind the goal and hit a wide-open Kempe in front of the crease. Kempe then fired a wrist shot into an open net.
Karlsson put Vegas back in front, 3-2, at the 7:17 mark with a power-play goal, redirecting Pietrangelo’s shot-pass inside the left post, past Quick’s blocker side.
Kaliyev tied it 3-3 when he took a backhand pass from Trevor Moore by the edge of the right circle and flipped a shot inside the right post.
–Field Level Media
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