Kings hold off Golden Knights despite Hertl's hat trick

LAS VEGAS -- The Los Angeles Kings scored the first three goals of the game before hanging on for a 6-5 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Brandt Clarke, and Warren Foegele each had a goal and an assist for the Kings (33-20-9), who won both games of a back-to-back after defeating the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime on Saturday. David Rittich made 27 saves.

“Situationally, on this back-to-back, coming in here against a really good team and playing a really good team [Saturday], we're put in a tough spot,” Clarke said. “It just proves we can get it done when times are tough. This isn't the typical low-scoring Kings win, but we'll take them however they come.”

Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick, and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights (38-19-6), who had won four in a row.

“Tonight, I just think for whatever reason, we were not attentive to detail when the puck wasn't there,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “So, that's something that I believe will be better Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, just because we're better than that. … Hopefully, we take it to heart. It can be a humbling game. Didn't see this one coming. But it's not who we are.”

Kopitar gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 11:22 of the first period when he tipped in a Joel Edmundson point shot past Hill. Clarke made it 2-0 at 18:29, scoring with a backhand around Hill’s right pad.

Quinton Byfield pushed it to 3-0 at 1:56 of the second period, tipping in a Kevin Fiala shot on the rush.

“Everyone was on their toes. It seemed like pucks were getting to the net. It creates a lot of chaos, and it puts their defenders on their heels,” Foegele said. “It's hard to play against it, so the more we can do that, the better it is for our group.”

Nicolas Roy cut it to 3-1 at 5:00 when his backhand trickled five-hole, and Hertl beat Rittich blocker side at 9:47 to make it 3-2.

Foegele scored on the rush to extend the Kings’ lead to 4-2 at 18:51.

“They had a good pushback in the second period and felt like we were in our end a little too much,” Foegele said. “To get that goal and have a sense of a breath going into the intermission was huge.”

Trevor Moore roofed a wrist shot at 4:02 of the third period, making it 5-2.

Hertl scored his second of the game with a one-timer from the low slot on the power play at 8:28 to make it 5-3.

Kempe scored on the power play at 10:57 to put the Kings ahead 6-3.

Brandon Saad scored at 11:33 to pull Vegas to within 6-4.

Hertl completed his seventh NHL hat trick at 17:48 with Hill pulled for the extra attacker for the 6-5 final.

“We put the puck behind them, hold the puck, and make some plays,” Hertl said. “In the first, we just didn't skate, hold it too much, lose it in neutral zone and give them easy entries. In the second, it was a way different hockey team, and obviously, to come pretty close, it was a good fight. But it [stinks] to lose them three times in a row.”

The Kings won the season series 3-1, taking the final three games.

“Entertaining, first of all,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “You can throw the score out in probably in all four games against Vegas and say, ‘You know what, there were four pretty good hockey games.’ We got on the right side a couple of them. All four games were just good games. Nobody expected 11 to win tonight. That's usually not our style nor theirs. Good on us to hang on at the end.”

NOTES: Reilly Smith played in his 900th NHL game and had an assist for his first point since returning to the Golden Knights in a trade from the New York Rangers on Thursday. … Hertl’s seven hat tricks tie him with Radim Vrbata and Petr Nedved for the fifth-most by a Czechia-born player in NHL history. Only David Pastrnak (18), Jaromir Jagr (15) and Miroslav Frycer (nine) and Patrik Elias (eight) have more.