Dorofeyev scores twice, Golden Knights rally to top Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice and the Vegas Golden Knights rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 6-4 at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

Colton Sissons, Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith scored three goals in 4:14 midway through the third period for the Golden Knights (28-16-14), who were without forwards Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Mitch Marner, as well as defensemen Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore following the gold medal game at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Adin Hill made 15 saves to extend Vegas' winning streak to three games.

“I mean, that’s what good teams do,” Dorofeyev said. “They pick up each other no matter what. Maybe we looked a little bit different on the paper tonight, but we're still the Golden Knights, and that’s how we play.”

Artemi Panarin had two assists in his Kings debut after he was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers for forward Liam Greentree and two conditional draft picks on Feb. 4. It was Panarin’s first game since Jan. 26 after being held out for roster management purposes by New York ahead of the trade.

“I think he gave us what he’s going to give us,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “He’s a great player. You saw that tonight, and you’ve seen that for the last 10 to 12 years.”

Quinton Byfield scored twice, Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist, Anton Forsberg made 19 saves, and the Kings (23-20-14) lost their fourth straight game (0-3-1).

“Missing their top guys, it was an opportunity we can’t miss,” Byfield said.

The Golden Knights went up 1-0 at 10:59 of the first period on Dorofeyev’s 27th goal of the season. Tanner Laczynski shot wide of the net from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush, and the puck caromed off the board to Dorofeyev below the right circle for a sharp-angle shot.

Byfield tied it up 1-1 at 14:31 on the power play when Panarin’s slap pass redirected in off his skate in the slot.

Panarin has at least one point in each of his four NHL team debuts (one goal on Oct. 7, 2015 with the Chicago Blackhawks; three assists on Oct. 6, 2017 with the Columbus Blue Jackets; one goal and one assist on Oct. 3, 2019 with the New York Rangers).

Kempe put the Kings ahead 2-1 at 14:44 of the second period with a snap shot from the left circle off the rush following a tic-tac-toe pass from Panarin to Kopitar to Los Angeles’ leading scorer.

“‘Bread’ looked really good, just making a ton of plays, so there’s some stuff we can build on,” Byfield said of Panarin’s debut.

Sissons tied it up 2-2 at 8:07 of the third period on a backhand shot from outside the crease. He had missed the previous 12 games because of an upper-body injury.

Saad put Vegas back in front 3-2 at 11:16 on a snap shot from the right circle. It was his first game since Jan. 8 because of an undisclosed injury.

“It was great to pop two in there,” Sissons said. “Me and 'Saader' have been out for a little while, so nice to get back in the lineup and have an impact on the offensive front.”

Smith made it 4-2 at 12:21 by cutting through the slot and scoring on the backhand, but Byfield scored from close range at 13:26 to cut the Kings’ deficit to 4-3.

“We obviously created some offense, and we were able to capitalize on our chances,” Sissons said. “They got one in behind the net, we kind of over skated the puck and got tied up, and they got a quick one. … Yeah, things change quickly in this game, especially coming off a long hiatus like that.”

Dorofeyev scored his second of the game on the power play at 15:59 to put the Golden Knights back up 5-3. It was his 15th power-play goal, setting a new Vegas single-season record after Tomas Hertl had 14 in 2024-25.

With Forsberg off for an extra attacker, Brandt Clarke made it 5-4 with a slap shot from the point at 18:54.

Ivan Barbashev scored into an empty net at 19:32 for the 6-4 final. The five goals from Vegas tied the most in a period in Golden Knights history, accomplished for the seventh time. 

“It wasn’t looking that way for the first 40, but that’s how it went,” Sissons said of the game's result.

NOTES: The Kings failed to win when leading after two periods for the first time this season. They had been 15-0-0 taking the lead into the third period. … Panarin is the third European player to have at least 40 assists in at least 11 consecutive seasons, joining Jaromir Jagr (12 straight seasons 1995-96–2007-08) and Peter Stastny (11 straight seasons from 1980-81–1990-91). … Six different Golden Knights had multiple points, including Laczynski’s first career three-assist game in 55 NHL appearances.