The LA Kings skated to a thrilling victory to open their account for the season, as they came back to win 6-5 in a shootout over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday evening.
The Kings took advantage of the game’s first power play as forward Andrei Kuzmenko gave his team an early 1-0 lead. The visitors capitalized by going long on the zone entry and executed to perfection, with forward Kevin Fiala finding forward Anze Kopitar with a stretch pass down the left wing. Kopitar delayed before feeding a trailing Kuzmenko in the slot, where the Russian winger buried his first goal of the season.
After the teams skated two minutes at 4-on-4, Kings forward Quinton Byfield exited the penalty box and extended the lead with a terrific individual effort. After working to force a turnover at the offensive blueline, Byfield worked his way in alone on Vegas goaltender Adin Hill, deked to the backhand and scored on the glove side for his first goal of the season and an early 2-0 lead.
Just over two minutes into the second period, Vegas got on the board through forward Pavel Dorofeyev. After the Kings lost possession of the puck in the neutral zone, Dorofeyev came back the other way with speed and beat Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg with a shot from just outside the right-hand circle, off the post and in, for his first goal of the 2025-26 season and a 2-1 scoreline.
Against the run of play a bit, the Kings pushed back with a goal from the fourth line off the rush. Forward Jeff Malott led the rush through the neutral zone before he dished off to forward Alex Turcotte on the right wing. Turcotte fed forward Joel Armia in the slot, where he fired towards the net, with Malott getting the final deflection past Hill on the blocker side for his first career goal in the National Hockey League.
Shortly after Malott’s goal, Turcotte was assessed a major penalty late in the second period and Vegas scored twice, tying the game at three heading into the second intermission.
First, skating 5-on-4, Dorofeyev buried his second goal of the game as he finished at the back post after a pass across the front of the crease from Vegas captain Mark Stone set him up in a dangerous position. Then, after an Alex Laferriere minor while shorthanded, the Golden Knights scored again in similar fashion to tie the game at three, as Dorofeyev completed his hat trick.
For the first time in the game, Vegas took the lead at the 5:06 mark of the first period. The Golden Knights attacked through the neutral zone with speed, as forward Ivan Barbashev led the rush before dishing to forward Mitch Marner on the right wing. Marner fed forward Jack Eichel in the slot, where he one-timed a finish past Forsberg and in, as the hosts pulled ahead by a goal.
The Golden Knights made it 5-3 with a tic-tac-toe goal off the rush to open up a multi-goal advantage. Attacking again in transition, Vegas executed on three consecutive passes as they worked towards the net, with Eichel eventually feeding Barbashev for a tap-in goal at the back post, Eichel’s fourth point of the game, as the Golden Knights pulled ahead by a pair.
With momentum seemingly all with the Golden Knights, forward Trevor Moore scored a shorthanded goal to bring the Kings back within one. Moore used his speed to pull away from the Vegas backcheckers before he worked his way into the slot, pulled the puck onto his forehand and used his trademark quick release to finish high on the glove side for his first goal of the season.
The Kings tied the game at five just over two minutes later, completing a thrilling 10-goal affair in regulation. Attacking off the rush with speed, forward Quinton Byfield took the puck from forward Andrei Kuzmenko barreled his way to the outside down the left wing, gaining just a half step of space in the process. Byfield fired a hard pass towards the crease and defenseman Brandt Clarke drove the net and buried from close range to tie the game with his first goal of the season.
After overtime came and went without a goal, the Kings went on to win the game in a shootout. Moore and forward Adrian Kempe scored in the shootout before Forsberg denied Marner in Round 3, closing out a thrilling 6-5 victory.
Hear from Moore, Malott and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s victory.
Trevor Moore
Jeff Malott
On if he knew right away it was his goal
I had a feeling. It was so hard to tell, a bit of a traffic jam in front, but I felt something. I needed to wait for some confirmation because of last time, I think I celebrated a little bit too early.
On if he knew right away it was his goal
Yeah that’s pretty cool. Yeah. I waited all summer pretty much. I didn’t get one last year, so it’s a pretty awesome feeling with all the guys.
On the character and resilience shown in coming back to win that game
We’ve been talking this week about building the character of the team. I think that’s a big step for us. Just those games where you’re looking to find a little bit extra and that’s what we were able to do. I think that’s a big one to have early in the season for confidence.
On what was said on the bench when Vegas went up 5-3
Just sticking to the things that had been working for us. We got a great goal from Mooresie there and that gave us a lot of jam. I think you could see some momentum pick up after that. Just looking to stick with it.
Jim Hiller
On how Kings were able to come back from 5-3 down
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, that’s a pretty nice play.
On the importance of Trevor Moore’s shorthanded goal
Yeah, 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 seeing Jeff Malott score his first career NHL goal
29 years old. 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 the depth in the offensive scoring tonight throughout the lineup
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 [goal scorers] 35 last year [for Kempe], 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 what he liked better tonight than in last night’s win over Colorado
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 Abalancing Alex Turcotte’s major against a really good game from him otherwise
Right, it’s difficult. 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 ther, you just scored a big goal and then that happened after. For him, it’s just 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 icetime too. I’m not mad at him, but he can’t do that.
Notes –
– Winger Andrei Kuzmenko (1-1=2) netted his first goal of the season early into the game’s first special teams situation. The tally marks his first power play goal as a member of the Kings. Kuzmenko then earned his first assist of the season in the third period to help tie the game 5-5.
– Center Quinton Byfield (1-1=2) scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway in the first period, extending his point streak against the Golden Knights to a fourth game (2-6=8), dating back to Oct. 30, 2024, before later adding an assist to average 2.00 points-per-game in that stretch. The 23-year-old has scored in each of his past two visits to the Silver State (1G, March 9, 2025).
– Winger Jeff Malott (1-0=1) scored his first career NHL goal in the second period tonight at T-Mobile Arena by deflecting a shot from forward Joel Armia (0-1=1), who picked up his first as a member of the Kings. Malott is the third skater in Kings history to score his first career goal against the Pacific Division rival Golden Knights, joining Nikolai Prokhorkin (Nov. 16, 2019) and Jaret Anderson-Dolan (Feb. 7, 2021).
– Thousand Oaks, Calif., native Trevor Moore (2-0=2) scored his first goal of the season, his 12th career shorthanded marker. In the shootout, Moore and winger Adrian Kempe each beat Vegas’ Adin Hill to help the Kings to their first victory of the 2025-26 campaign.
– Defenseman Brandt Clarke (1-0=1) tied the game late in the third period with his first goal of the season. The 22-year-old blueliner has six points (2-4=6) in five career games played against the Golden Knights
– Forward Kevin Fiala (0-1=1) picked up his first assist of the season on Kuzmenko’s game-opening tally, accounting for his second power play point (1-1=2) in as many games this season. The Swiss winger extends his point streak against Vegas to a fourth game (2-4=6), dating back to Oct. 30, 2024.
– Center Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) recorded his second power play helper of the campaign with his 42nd career point (16-26=42) against the Vegas Golden Knights. The captain has scored more points against Vegas than any other skater in NHL history and has notched 10 points (4-6=10) in the two teams’ seven most recent meetings, dating to Nov. 8, 2023. Kopitar now has 1,280 career points (440-840=1,280) and will tie fellow three-time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner Alex Delvecchio (456-825=1,281) for 39th most in NHL history the next time he finds the scoresheet.
– Per NHL PR, Kopitar recorded his 165th career assist on a game-opening goal and tied Sidney Crosby and Adam Oates for ninth most in NHL history. The list is
topped by Wayne Gretzky (243).
– Forward Alex Turcotte (0-1=1) provided the set-up for Malott’s tally, collecting his first assist of the season and first career point against the Vegas Golden Knights while setting up a teammate’s inaugural marker for the first time.
– Defenseman Drew Doughty (0-1=1) and center Phillip Danault (0-1=1) each picked up their first assists of the season on Moore’s shorthanded tally. Doughty now has 20 career points (4-16=20) vs. Vegas, the most by any defenseman in the League against the Nevada-based club.
– Goaltender Anton Forsberg made 30 saves on 35 shots faced in regulation and overtime before turning aside two of three attempts in the shootout to earn his first win as a member of the LA Kings.
– Tonight’s win marks the first third-period, multi-goal comeback for the Kings since Dec. 5, 2023 (4-3 OT W at CBJ), per NHL PR.
– Tonight also marks Kopitar and Doughty’s 607th regular-season win as teammates, tying Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio for the fifth-most by a duo in NHL history. The only pairs of teammates with more all-time: Nicklas Lidstrom and Kris Draper (664), Henrik and Daniel Sedin (662), Larry Robinson and Bob Gainey (643) and Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin (619).
– The Kings won their fourth straight road opener dating to 2022-23. Per NHL PR, only two other teams have an active run of that length: Carolina (7 GP from 2018- 19 – 2024-25) and Philadelphia (4 GP from 2021-22 – 2024-25).
The Kings have a scheduled team day off tomorrow and will return to the ice for practice on Friday, October 10 at 10 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.
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