Golden Knights cruise to win against Kings in return

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday in their first game since Jan. 26.

Vegas had three games postponed with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and three coaches in NHL COVID-19 protocol.
Pietrangelo did not play, but coach Peter DeBoer returned to the bench after 10 days in quarantine.
"Veteran group, a lot of maturity," DeBoer said of the Golden Knights' response after not playing for eight days. "When you think about what they've been through, with not just COVID protocols and the players missing, but also a lot of your coaching staff has been missing, and the preparation has been put on them … that's the impressive part that they have the discipline and recognition of knowing how important it is, and they got it done tonight."
Nicolas Hague
and William Karlsson each had a goal and two assists, and Max Pacioretty had three assists for Vegas (6-1-1). Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to improve to 4-0-0.
The Golden Knights led 5-0 after Cody Glass scored on the power play at 7:03 of the second period. It was their second consecutive game with a power-play goal after scoring two in the first six games (2-for-20).
The Kings (3-5-2) lost their third consecutive game and have been outscored 13-6 in that span. Jonathan Quick was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Cal Petersen made 25 saves in relief.
"Their speed overwhelmed us early, that's pretty evident," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "The transition from offense to defense and their defensemen jumping into the rush … we did a poor job."
Hague scored 50 seconds into the game to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. It was his first goal of the season.
Mark Stone made it 2-0 at 9:32, and Jonathan Marchessault scored on a rebound in the crease at 10:40 to make it 3-0.
"I loved our start," DeBoer said. "I loved the fact we got a lead. I'm not sure the scoreboard reflected how we were playing. I thought we had some good moments and some sloppy moments."

Karlsson got his 100th assist with the Golden Knights on Marchessault's goal.
Karlsson scored at 1:35 of the second period to make it 4-0. The Kings replaced Quick with Petersen after the goal.
"[In a 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday] we were very upset -- all of us, players and coaches -- about the effort we put in," McLellan said. "Today, we made mistakes, and mistakes are repairable over time. Some of the younger players that saw this speed coming at them, it was tough. Some of the older players that should've known better also got caught. We'll fix it as we go."
Stone scored at 18:11 of the second, but the goal was overturned after McLellan challenged for goaltender interference by Glass.
Austin Wagner scored for the Kings to make it 5-1 at 7:47 of the third period. It was his first goal.
Dustin Brown scored on the power play at 13:33 for the 5-2 final.
It was Hague's first three-point game in the NHL. The defenseman had 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in 38 games as a rookie last season.
"For me, it's just getting confident with defending," Hague said. "I don't ever feel intimidated or in awe of other teams' top lines. I feel I can defend a lot better this year, which is something I've tried to work on. That was a focus for me, and I feel a lot better in that area."

Vegas improved to 5-0-1 at home.
"It's a hard league to win in. It wasn't a perfect game, but we showed up and got the job done," DeBoer said.
DeBoer and his staff were not on the bench for the Golden Knights' previous game, a 5-4 shootout loss to the St. Louis Blues, because of COVID-19 protocol, replaced by general manager Kelly McCrimmon and the staff from Henderson of the American Hockey League.
The NHL announced Jan. 28 that their game that night against the Blues was postponed. On Jan. 29, Vegas' next two games, scheduled for Monday and Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks, also were postponed.
NOTES: Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan played 13:15 in his NHL debut. … Kings defenseman Austin Strand was plus-1 in 17:27 in his NHL debut. … With an assist on Hague's goal, Stone became the fastest to 10 assists to start a season in Golden Knights history (eight games). … Pacioretty is the second player in Vegas history with consecutive three-point games; Marchessault did it three times in 2017-18. Pacioretty scored a hat trick in the loss to the Blues.