While appearing in his first game in a Kings uniform, goaltender Anton Forsberg led the way with 32 saves in a 3-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights which improved LA’s record to 2-0 during the 2025 preseason.
Taylor Ward got the Kings in front early with a strike 5:06 into the first, while Jeff Malott added insurance in the second and Trevor Moore iced the victory with a late empty-net goal. Liam Greentree also factored into the team’s first two tallies, earning secondary assists on both goals.
The Golden Knights came out hot and put some early pressure on the Kings to open the first, but a slashing penalty to Ben Hutton at 3:01 turned the momentum toward the other end of the ice. Although LA was unable to score on their first man-advantage, Ward found the back of the net five seconds after the chance ended with a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed over the left shoulder of Adin Hill to make it 1-0. Assists on the early marker went to Brian Dumoulin, who set Ward up with a feed from the left-wing wall, as well as Greentree.
Vegas thought they had tied the game moments after the midway point of the period when a shot by Mark Stone, which was originally called a goal on the ice, was confirmed to have gone off the post and stayed out of the net via video review.
Forsberg was busy in the first, making 14 saves to keep the Kings in front.
The Golden Knights also came close to evening the score up in the first part of the second but once again had a bid denied by the post, this time on a shot by Reilly Smith.
LA wasn’t able to get much going offensively, going without a shot on goal for the first 9:18 of the middle frame until Jared Wright finally broke through with a long-range chance that Hill kicked out.
That was the only look Hill faced in the second before he was swapped with Akira Schmid at 11:13.
A late penalty to Henry Brzustewicz allowed Vegas to swarm the LA net in the final minute of the period, but the Kings made it into the second intermission with the lead after five consecutive saves by Forsberg in the final moments of the frame. The netminder stopped a total of 11 chances in the second.
Malott pushed the lead to 2-0 at 7:57 of the third, knocking home a rebound from in tight after an initial shot by Alex Turcotte which was set up by a cross-seam pass from Greentree. Turcotte was on the scoresheet for the second consecutive game after posting a goal and an assist in Sunday’s preseason opener.
Vegas responded quickly, however, when Viliam Kmec beat Forsberg with a wrist shot 41 seconds after Malott’s goal at 8:38 and the Golden Knights were back within one at 2-1.
The Kings played their best defense of the game in the final moments, limiting Vegas to just one chance on net in the last six minutes of the game.
Both teams also stayed out of the penalty box during the last 20 minutes. Neither were able to convert on any of their chances in the contest, with LA holding the Golden Knights to an 0-for-4 mark while going 0-for-2 themselves.
Moore’s empty-net strike came with 1:02 left on the clock and put the game out of reach for the home team. The attacker stole the puck away at the center ice red line and then found enough space to backhand it the length of the ice and into the open goal.
Hear from Ward, Forsberg and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s victory.
