PRESEASON FINAL – Kings 0, Golden Knights 4 – Three key takeaways, plus a look ahead

The LA Kings completed their back-to-back against the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-0 defeat, splitting the pair of exhibition games between the two teams over the last 48 hours.

The Kings controlled the majority of the shot attempts, and shots on goal, but fell short in converting those chances, with an opportunistic side across from them capitalizing on their opportunities.

The Kings outshot the Golden Knights in the first and second periods, but also conceded the only goal in each frame. To kick off the scoring for the evening, defenseman Daniil Miromanov tallied for the second straight night, as he joined the rush and converted in tight on the backhand, for the 1-0 advantage.

Vegas doubled its advantage midway through the second period through a familiar face in defenseman Alec Martinez. With the Golden Knights on a power play, Martinez took a cross-ice feed in the right-hand circle and fired it just inside the near post and in, for his first goal of the preseason.

Unlike the first two periods, in which the Kings outshot Vegas by nearly a 2-1 margin, the Golden Knights surged with eight of the first 10 shots on goal, increasing their lead to four goals. First, William Karlsson scored on a deflected shot, off of a 3-on-1 rush, just 18 seconds into the period, before Miromanov struck again on an impressive individual effort that saw him weave through the offensive zone for his third goal in two games against the Kings.

3 Takeaways

– The Kings created a hell of a lot of chances. The Kings also did not finish any of those chances. At 5-on-5, it was LA that had more than 60 percent of the shot attempts and more than 60 percent of the high-danger chances. The creation was there, and you saw some of the same positives that you saw last night, in terms of turning pucks over, extending shifts in the offensive zone and creating offense off the rush.

The only stat the really matters is goals scored and allowed, but in the preseason, none of the stats really matter. I think you saw the Kings commit to playing their brand of hockey, but tonight it didn’t result in pucks going in.

– An interesting takeaway: Outside of Olli Maatta, who departed the game early, no Kings player had a lower CF% than 56 percent, and none were higher than 66 percent. All four lines and all five defensemen were on the positive end, showing some depth throughout the lineup. Each forward line was over 60 percent, and each forward line created between six and eight scoring chances.

You know, the more I type this one out, the more it doesn’t even feel like a new takeaway. The Kings created a lot of chances, but didn’t bury any. Did I originally have this as one takeaway and broke it into two, to fill space after a preseason game on a Friday night, or did I come to the realization after writing a paragraph that I don’t want to delete? You be the judge.

– It will be interesting to see how the Kings breakdown their lineup over the next three preseason games. The veteran quartet of Doughty, Kopitar, Brown and Arvidsson all made their preseason debuts tonight, with Danault and Edler doing the same yesterday. As Todd McLellan mentioned when referencing Danault the other day, it’s usually a player-by-player conversation as to how many exhibition games a veteran feels he needs to be ready to go on opening night.

On the other end of the spectrum, seven Kings have played in three preseason games – Bjornfot, Strand, Kupari, Tkachev, Vilardi, Andersson, Byfield. The common theme there is youth for one, and roster battles for two. Everyone on that list is either battling for a roster spot, or for their role within the roster.

How McLellan elects to approach the final three preseason games, balancing the need to give the veterans their games with the desire to see more from those fighting for the final roster spots, is something to keep an eye on.

Looking Ahead
We’ve walked through this timeline over the last few days here on LAKI, but expect to see some roster movement between now and the next time the Kings take the ice, which is Sunday morning in El Segundo. The team is off tomorrow, following nine straight days of practice. McLellan indicated that the Kings would make their decisions after they got back from Vegas, and that the group that traveled isn’t a certainty to be the group that remains at the NHL level come Sunday.

With AHL training camp scheduled to begin on Sunday, the Kings are likely to make a series of transactions between now and then, and we’ll get our first look at which players will continue on the NHL roster. The cuts made aren’t necessarily final, as we’ve seen players, especially those who are waiver exempt, move back and forth in camps before. It will however condense the Kings down to one group for the first time in the preseason, as we continue to approach the final 23-man roster on opening night.