Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
First, the Kings were boring:
Some pre-season games are exciting with lots of end-to-end action. This is not one of them
— Jewels from the Crown 💎👑 (@JFTC_Kings) September 20, 2019
And then, some mild excitement:
LA’s two most extended offensive zone forays have come through the Eyssimont-Thomas-Fagemo line. Eyssimont having himself a fine night. Pressure leads to Go Kings Go chants.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) September 20, 2019
And then, the most rare of all occurrences:
Brown scores on the powerplay 1-0 LA#LAKings pic.twitter.com/cncsm2XPtM
— Eric (@Kingsgifs) September 20, 2019
And suddenly we had ourselves a game.
While the Kings had previously gone zero-for-nine on the power play in the preseason, this particular time out, they displayed urgency and moved both players and puck around the ice, forcing the Vegas penalty killers to actually, you know, work a little bit harder. Dustin Brown was rewarded with a power play goal with 45 seconds left in the second period.
At 7:24 into the third period, rookie Blake Lizotte used his quick shot to put a puck past Golden Knights goalie Oscar Dansk. Lizotte’s shot entered and exited the net so quickly that it wasn’t initially ruled a goal.
This @BLizotte46 kid is lookin’ real GOOD 👀#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/W00xXGUBqd
— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 20, 2019
But, of course, this is a Los Angeles Kings game, so of course they would find a way to let go of a 2-0 lead.
The Golden Knights’ first goal was essentially an own goal from Kings defender Joakim Ryan, who deflected in a shot from Vegas’ Curtis McKenzie. Less than a minute later, Mark Stone tied the game for Vegas as he evaded both Kale Clague and Tobias Bjornfot on defense to slip a puck past Jonathan Quick.
Overtime was essentially dominated by Vegas, who scored at 1:04 into the period to win the game. After the Kings had several chances, but no actual recorded shots, on Vegas’ net, Cody Eakin sent a long pass up the ice to Jonathan Marchessault, who was able to get past Austin Wagner to score.
Last night’s game had everything you’ve come to expect from the Kings: some overwhelming dullness, a few moments of excitement, a glimmer of hope, and then disappointment. Clague in particular struggled, on the ice for two goals against, including Stone’s tying goal. He didn’t look like he was entirely aware of who else was on the ice or how skilled a player Stone is, as his effort to try to disrupt Stone’s play was lackluster at best.
Lizotte continues to be one of the standout players in camp for the Kings, showing off his speed and hands. He finished the game with 14:12 of ice time, including 2:52 on the power play and 2:11 on the penalty kill. It will be interesting to see how he performs as the preseason continues and the quality of competition gets tougher.
The Kings are in action again on Saturday, when they take on the Vancouver Canucks in Salt Lake City, Utah.