Head coach Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings (1-1-0) pulled off a shocking and exciting comeback victory last night (Oct. 8) in the road regular season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights (0-0-1) in a shootout. The Kings scored two goals in a span of under six minutes late in the third period in clutch time to send the game into overtime, with a 5-5 tie on the scoreboard.
Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings notch their first win of the 2025-26 regular season in a shootout thriller vs. the Golden Knights on Wednesday
The Kings once held a 3-1 lead in the second period against the Knights. But the pendulum of momentum swung back and forth in the game's final period last night between the two teams on the ice.
The special teams on the penalty kill cost the Kings late in the second period, allowing the Golden Knights to score a couple of quick goals and tie the game up on the scoreboard going into the third period last night.
Hiller had a range of reactions, speaking to the media postgame after the Kings' thrilling 6-5 shootout win over the Golden Knights in the regular season road opener on Wednesday night.
Here's a look at everything Hiller said to the media postgame following the Kings' first win of the regular season on the road at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Oct. 8 over the Golden Knights.
Jim Hiller
On the Kings' comeback vs. Vegas
"Well, I think the goalies made some good saves at that point. We got pretty loose. You know, we were pretty tight until the power play, clearly, that was the turning point in the game and then we got loose and we were chasing it but the goalie made saves, held us, so there’s one of the reasons is he made some good saves. Then just some really nice goals. Clarkie’s goal had three people more, Mooresie’s was pretty much a solo effort, but Clarkie he Kuzmenko to Byfield and let’s drive the middle."
On Trevor Moore's shorthanded goal in the third period
"That one gave us a chance, because we’re shorthanded again too, right? So now you’re looking at the clock, you’ve got to kill the penalty, hopefully, and then you’re still down by two. That brought a lot of life onto the bench, for sure. Got us back in."
On Jeff Malott scoring the first goal of his career in the NHL for the Kings
"We talked about it in the room, 29 years old, just keeps going. You know, it doesn’t always turn out, most often times it doesn’t turn out. So, when it does, that’s the great part of sports, when somebody just sticks with it. All kinds of movies that have been shown about that type of story and so when you have one of those guys that’s on your team and such a good guy, the guys were pretty excited."
On all four lines showing up for the Kings with the forward group vs. Vegas
"I thought the fourth line, Turc’s lines clearly is the fourth line, they scored, they were dangerous, had a couple other good chances. So that’s been a real positive for us. There’s enough guys there. There might not be the 40 and 50, 35 last year, but there’s lots of guys there that can score. I’ll be great when Juice starts scoring, I’m sure he will, and Kopi, but I’m sure until then, we’re going to be a balanced attack all year."
On the takeaways from the win over Vegas compared to the opener vs. Colorado two nights ago
"I liked our start and then they took it to us a little bit in the second period, but our start, we came off the bench, four lines, we were shooting it, the puck was going low, high, we’re shooting it, we were getting it back. It wasn’t the prettiest offense but it was the type of offense that we control games with, just by getting loose pucks, going low to high and finding the hole, jumping on the next one. We had our feet going, that allowed us to get a little bit more involved in the game, whereas last night, we didn’t have any."
On Alex Turcotte's major penalty in the second period
"It certainly wasn’t intentional, but you just have to understand the situation, right? They scored, he wanted to come to the bench, I said you guys get back out there, you just scored a big goal and then that happened after. For him, it’s a matter of learning and you can’t do it, or you don’t get on the ice. He didn’t play much in the third period, killing penalties, cost himself some ice time too. I’m not mad at him, but he can’t do that."