Kings Breakdown – A Look At The 5 Relentless Goals vs. Vegas

Thinking at first about last night’s game, I thought of some very nice goals. And there certainly were. Seeing Trevor Moore do what he did so many times last season, with that quick wrister off the rush, was really great. That backhanded pass from Quinton Byfield to Warren Foegele for the game-winning goal, holding the puck for as long as he did before whipping the puck into Foegele at the perfect time was precise. The line of Byfield with Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe setting up the final goal, a silky-smooth deke from Fiala for a backhanded finish, was the cherry on top.

Then I watched the goals back. While everything in paragraph one was still true, the work that went into the goals, before they happened, was peak LA Kings. On four of the five goals, the Kings either forced a turnover or won a 50/50 battle in the offensive zone to establish possession. Then they went to work, as they do. The third period in particular was a statement period from the Kings, as they came from behind to win the game.

A longer-lens look at all five goals below and the work that went into them.

Goal 1

How many times in the first half of this shift did Vegas have at least a partial opportunity to get a clear? On a power play, you have to have one more player on the puck than your opponent in any sort of battle. On this shift, the four forwards did that. When Vegas had a defenseman on the puck, the Kings had at least two players trying to win it back. When there were two Golden Knights, there were at least three Kings. Between Moore, Foegele, Byfield and Phillip Danault, the Kings relentlessly worked in the corner and along the boards to win it back. It took 3 or 4 different sequences for the Kings to finally establish possession of the puck. Foegele and Byfield ultimately won the puck to create possession, leading to a pretty simple goal.

Foegele cycled the puck down low. Byfield worked it to Jordan Spence at the point, who walked towards the middle as a right shot to create space for Byfield to curl back up. Byfield then shot on net, with Moore skating through on a moving screen for the deflection goal. The second power-play unit has not created very much this season and this wasn’t exactly a tic-tac-toe goal. But the players mentioned here are workers and they certainly worked. The goal was solid, but the way the Kings worked for 15-20 second in advance of it, to win multiple battles along the wall, is peak Kings in the offensive zone.

Goal 2

ONE MOORE FOR TREV! pic.twitter.com/nQh4Xxkmh0

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 25, 2025

Admittedly this goal does not fit the narrative. It’s the only one that doesn’t. I thought it was a really, really important goal for Trevor Moore individually, but it was just a guy who exceeded 30 goals last season beating a goaltender. As Jim Hiller said after the game, we saw that goal from Moore double-digit times last season, between the left and right wings. Would have to go back through for the exact number but we all remember it. Happened regularly. He’s got one of the quickest releases in the NHL and to use that shot, with confidence, was really nice to see. He felt it too.

“I know it’s in there, but when the puck’s not going in for awhile, I stopped shooting those, even on that one, I think I was looking for Foegs for awhile there and when it wasn’t there, I decided to shoot,” Moore said. “Hockey has ebbs and flows and I’m glad to see it go in.”

Goal 3

Same culprits here as on the first goal. 5 seconds into the video, Danault applies heavy pressure on Alex Pietrangelo behind the net, forcing a circle back and eventual pass up the wall, instead of a clearance late on the PK. Then, Foegele crashes down the left side and pressures Brett Howden along the wall, forcing a turnover into the middle of the ice, where Byfield was waiting to pounce and turn the puck back the other way.

From that point on, it’s a scramble drill for Vegas and Byfield was the agent of chaos. As he skates through the middle, you can see that he draws the physical attention of two Vegas defenders and the focus of all four. Here’s a screenshot of Byfield at the very last second, before he made the pass to Foegele.

As you can see, every head is turned towards Byfield. It was a tired group at the end of the shift and the Kings had relentlessly forced a turnover out of a potential clearance situation. Byfield’s pass evaded all four players in the way, with Foegele slipping through to collect, after he was forgotten about on the left side. Nice set of hands on Foegele, who scored his 15th goal in the season in the process. He’s got goals in all three games against Vegas this season. He has 8 goals and 13 points against Western Conference Playoff teams. Dude is bringing it against the best and his fingerprints were all over this goal before he actually scored it.

Goal 4

Twice on this shift, a Vegas defenseman had the puck on his stick in the defensive zone. Twice it did not get out. This is a play that if you’re looking with a Golden Knights perspective, you’re calling out unforced errors leading to a goal against. That’s certainly the case to an extent, especially on the second attempt. But off a zone entry that didn’t quite click, Adrian Kempe was aggressive in forcing Pietrangelo back into the corner, leading to pass behind the net as opposed to out of the zone. Byfield was quick to go side-to-side and at least apply pressure on Noah Hanifin on the other side, ultimately skating up in the zone to retrieve the misplayed pass.

Love the play by Kempe too just after the turnover. Byfield attempted a difficult pass to Kempe and he collected it off his left skate, kicked with his outside edge onto his stick and he immediately curled towards space, as opposed to rushing something. That was the first time on this play when things opened up. Kempe found Joel Edmundson, who shot through a Kevin Fiala screen and in for an insurance goal. Different players here than the first and third goals, but similar outcome. Kings attacked, stole, capitalized.

Goal 5

Right off the start, watch Kempe and Fiala win a 2-on-2 battle in open ice against Howden and forward Jack Eichel. It wasn’t the cleanest entry, but the Kings immediately won the puck back. Then came a very good shift on the cycle, with Vegas in search of a goal to get back in the game. The Kings cycled the puck well between the three forwards, with defenseman Drew Doughty also activating to keep the play alive. Through a couple of rotations, Byfield sent the puck low to Kempe, who found space below the goal line. Fiala, who had rotated up high, aggressively drove towards Kempe and seemingly in one motion, collected the pass, dragged it onto his backhand and scored the final goal of the game.

We’d seen Fiala and Byfield together. We’ve seen Byfield with Kempe. Seeing those three players together was poetic in the third period and this goal was the prime example of three players who play aggressively and with speed. Two goals scored and the team’s most effective line in turning a game from 1-2 to 5-2.

Really good night for the Kings, who moved to within five points of the Pacific Division lead with three games in hand. Pretty good place to be heading into the stretch run. Another big one tomorrow against Vancouver and the Kings will take today off to recharge and prepare. Games coming in hot second half of the season.