3 takeaways from the LA Kings shootout thriller win v. Vegas

Just one day after the Los Angeles Kings were defeated comfortably by the Colorado Avalanche in the regular season opener on Tuesday night (Oct. 7), the team came back on Wednesday with a much better spark in the offensive zone on the ice out of the gates in the first period tonight in Nevada.

Tonight proved to be one of the most exciting games in recent memory in the regular season this year for the Kings against the Knights in the regular season road opener at T-Mobile Arena.

Quinton Byfield and the Los Angeles Kings defeat the Golden Knights in a shootout for a thrilling road opener win

The Kings got the jump quickly on Mitch Marner, Jack Eichel, and the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night (Oct. 8), scoring two goals in the game's first 15 minutes in the first period. This was a much improved start for the Kings in the opening frame in the first period tonight, building momentum in the first 15 minutes.

Forward Andrei Kuzmenko broke the tie on the scoreboard for the Kings' with the game's first goal early in the first period. Kuzmenko wristed a beautiful shot from the high slot past Vegas goalie Adin Hill for his first goal of the season, and the sixth goal he's scored for LA and Jim Hiller since he was acquired at the trade deadline this past year in the 2024-25 campaign.

Quinton Byfield doubled the Kings' lead to a margin of 2-0 less than eight minutes later in the opening frame in the first period. Byfield made a beautiful move to the backhand to put one past Hill for his first goal of the season for the Kings vs. Vegas.

Vegas got a spark in the offensive zone early in the second period on a goal from Pavel Dorofeyev just over 120 seconds in the second frame. The Golden Knights finally got one past Anton Forsberg for the first time over 20 minutes into the game tonight.

In the middle of the second frame, the Kings found their legs on the ice and got a few scoring chances on goal against Hill and Vegas in the offensive zone and put some consistent pressure in the corners.

The Kings responded to Vegas' tally in the second period tonight with a timely one-time goal setup by Alex Turcotte for the first-career goal for forward Jeff Malott.

The Kings, unfortunately, made some untimely mistakes that put them down a couple of players late in the second period. Vegas scored two goals on the power play on special teams, netting a hat trick for Dorofeyev and the Knights in a span of just a couple of minutes, including one on a 5-on-3 advantage.

Eichel and Ivan Barbashev extended the Vegas lead to a couple of goals by the middle of the final frame.

But just when it looked like the Kings were down an out tonight vs. Vegas, they came roaring back with two quick goals late in the third period. Trevor Moore got the Kings back within one with a clutch shorthanded goal rush to make the score just 5-4.

Then, defenseman Brandt Clarke tied the game back up for the first time since early in the third period for the Kings on a goal where he crashed the net to get to the crease and score his first of the season for LA.

The Kings pushed the game to overtime and then a shootout, where a couple of clutch saves from Forsberg in net handed LA their first win of the season by a score of 6-5.

Here are three takeaways from the Kings' shootout 6-5 win over the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 8.

Quinton Byfield shows off his skills and playmaking to give the Kings a solid lead in the first period

Byfield had a tremendous game for the Kings in the game's first two periods. Not only did he score the second goal tonight for the Kings in the first period from the breakaway move in the opening frame, but he also played solid defense and blocked a shot for LA.

The breakaway goal that Byfield scored really showed off his quick moves and his skill one-on-one with the goalie against Hill for Vegas. Byfield got the turnover from the Vegas defenseman and turned on the rockets on the breakaway.

Byfield had many great chances in this game, including a partial breakaway in 3-on-3 in overtime in the extra frame tonight for the Kings. He was all over the place, and he finally got what he deserved with a nice goal in the first period this season.

Cody Ceci has a costly defensive-zone turnover vs. Vegas

The second period got off to a negative start for the Kings and Hiller tonight. In the second period's first five minutes, the Kings were outshot by a margin of 5-0 and the Knights had zero defensive-zone turnovers compared to a couple of turnovers for the Kings.

The Kings had multiple bad turnovers in the defensive zone that resulted in unfortunate goals for the Golden Knights in their zone. Ceci and Drew Doughty both had bad turnovers for the Kings that could eventually lead to goals for Vegas tonight.

Hiller and the Kings need to tighten up in the defensive zone in games like this tonight. If not for the bad turnovers in the defensive zone and the bad penalties in the game's first 30 minutes vs. Vegas, the Kings probably could've escaped with a regulation win tonight.

Ceci is the only Kings' defensemen with at least one defensive zone turnover in the season's first two games for LA (per Natural Stat Trick) that has resulted in a goal allowed.

Penalty kill costs the Kings until late in the third period

The Kings took a couple of bad penalties late in the second period. A 5-on-3 advantage and over four minutes of time on special teams on the penalty kill gave the Golden Knights multiple high-danger scoring chances around the Kings' goal front.

Shorthanded goals worked both ways for the Kings tonight. Moore's shorthanded goal made it possible for the Kings to pull off the incredible comeback in the third period tonight between the goals from Trevor and Clarke late in the final frame in clutch time.

Moore ended up being a crucial player for the Kings on special teams on the penalty kill with the shorthanded goal and with a nice goal in the shootout that proved to be the shootout-deciding tally for LA.