LAS VEGAS 4
LOS ANGELES 2
LAS VEGAS 鈥� In the first meeting of what figures to be a fun Pacific Division rivalry, the new guys in Vegas struck first.
William Karlsson scored twice, Maxime Lagace stopped 27 shots and the Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Sunday night.
Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas, which improved to 8-1-0 at home and 12-6-1 overall in its inaugural season. Reilly Smith had two assists, helping the Golden Knights win the first Interstate 15 matchup.
鈥淭he Kings鈥� chants were shut down in three seconds. It was awesome, I love that, that鈥檚 a good atmosphere,鈥� Tuch said. 鈥淕uys in this locker room, they鈥檝e been a part of rivalries for a long time. It brings a different kind of energy for each guy.鈥�
The Kings got goals from Trevor Lewis and Tanner Pearson but dropped to 12-7-2. The Golden Knights (25) moved within a point of Los Angeles (26) in the division.
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant downplayed the Vegas-LA rivalry and said he was more concerned with his team matching the Kings鈥� physicality.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty happy we won tonight because we鈥檙e one point out of first place, and we鈥檙e battling hard and we鈥檙e trying to win as many games as we can,鈥� Gallant said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter if it was LA or Phoenix or whoever we played tonight. It鈥檚 just about playing another team and trying to get another two points.
鈥淚 was really happy how we played. We know LA is a tough, physical team to play against, and our team stood up well. I was happy with how we responded.鈥�
Karlsson opened the scoring 55 seconds into the game with a wrist shot that beat Jonathan Quick through the five-hole.
Eakin scored his third goal of the season later in the period when he ripped a shot past Quick on the glove side.
Less than a minute later, Quick got caught behind the net trying to clear the puck. Smith passed to Karlsson, and he punched in his ninth goal of the season, matching his career high.
鈥淭hey came after us right away and obviously got the three-goal lead,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淲e battled back, but I think we kind of killed ourselves in the first period. The building is loud, there was a lot of energy. They鈥檙e a good team, they鈥檙e a fast team, they came out hard right away and we weren鈥檛 ready for it.鈥�
Quick was replaced by Darcy Kuemper after stopping just six of nine shots. Kuemper stopped 30 of 30 shots the rest of the way, with Tuch scoring into an empty net.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 certainly not the start we wanted,鈥� Kings coach John Stevens said. 鈥淵ou dig a hole on the road against any team, especially in here, it鈥檚 tough to come back. But I thought the guys, they dug in, I thought they got going.鈥�
The Kings didn鈥檛 get on the board until midway through the second, when Lewis capitalized on a turnover, made a nifty move to his left and slipped one past Lagace to cut Vegas鈥� lead to 3-1.
Los Angeles got within one when Pearson was left alone in the slot and his wrist shot beat Lagace with 8:15 left in the game.
鈥淚f you look at all our rivalries 鈥� Anaheim and San Jose 鈥� now put these guys in the mix,鈥� Pearson said. 鈥淚t was a pretty hard-fought first game, and there will be a lot more to come. It鈥檚 just this way division plays each other, it gets intense.鈥�
Notes: Golden Knights G Malcolm Subban was activated from the injured list Friday and was in uniform for the first time since Oct. 21, when he left the game with a lower body injury.
Up next
Vegas: At Anaheim on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles: Hosts Winnipeg on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere in the National Hockey League on Sunday:
DUCKS 3, PANTHERS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) 鈥� John Gibson stopped 50 shots and Anaheim held on to beat Florida for its first winning streak in three weeks.
Josh Manson, Rickard Rakell and Brandon Montour scored for Anaheim. The Ducks hadn鈥檛 won consecutive games since Oct. 28 and 29.
Vincent Trocheck and Keith Yandle scored for Florida. Roberto Luongo made 25 saves. Florida was shut out for the first time this season Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. It broke its scoreless streak when Trocheck鈥檚 wrist shot went top shelf for his ninth goal.
RANGERS 3, SENATORS 0
NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots for his second shutout of the season and 63rd of his career, leading New York over Ottawa.
Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner and Mika Zibanejad scored, and Mats Zuccarello had two assists to help the Rangers win the teams鈥� first meeting since the Senators eliminated New York in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinals last May.
New York bounced back from consecutive road losses to win for the seventh time in nine games and get its sixth straight victory at home.
Craig Anderson finished with 24 saves for the Senators, who lost in regulation on the road for the first time this season after starting 4-0-1.
AVALANCHE 4, RED WINGS 3, OT
DETROIT (AP) 鈥� Nathan MacKinnon scored 2:55 into overtime and Colorado overcame a late two-goal deficit to beat Detroit.
Niklas Kronwall put Detroit ahead 3-1 with 8:53 left in the third period, but Nail Yakupov made it 3-2 on a power play with 6:15 remaining before Carl Soderberg tied it with Colorado鈥檚 goalie pulled in the final minute.
Justin Abdelkader and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for the Wings. Erik Johnson had Colorado鈥檚 other goal. Howard had 33 saves.
HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 2
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) 鈥� Teuvo Teravainen had two goals and an assist in Carolina鈥檚 4-2 victory over New York.
Sebastian Aho added a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes, extending his goals streak to four games after failing to score in his first 15 games of the season.
Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, and Cam Ward stopped 27 shots. John Tavares and Nick Leddy scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves.
听
