FSM Essential Preview: Golden Knights vs Kings- Game 9

The Vegas Golden Knights left no doubt as to whether their extended time off would negatively affect their play after their Friday night matchup against the LA Kings.

VGK will look to build upon that momentum Sunday afternoon as they take on the Kings for the second time in three days. Even with lineup changes due to players being injured or on COVID protocol, the Knights looked as solid as ever while steamrolling their divisional rivals. I stated in my last preview that elite teams beat the teams they are supposed to, Vegas has done just that so far with only one regulation loss at this point in the season. While a few of their wins earlier this season left some areas of their game that needed improvement, they have continued to improve with each passing game.

The Knights have started to improve their powerplay little by little and have been solid on the penalty kill as they are ranked 11^th in the league when down a man.

The continued improvement on special teams is something that the players and coaches alike would love to see continue in the right direction. Cody Glass has done a good job taking advantage of his opportunities with the man advantage when he is in the lineup as both of his goals this year have been powerplay goals. When a player has not had many opportunities to play, helping out on special teams is a good way to catch the coaches’ attention and possibly earn some more ice time.
It will be interesting to see if coach DeBoer decides to keep him in the lineup for just that reason. It was good to see so much traffic in front of the net preceding that goal and VGK should keep that same mentality when given the opportunity. When a powerplay unit has been struggling to score, the best remedy is to battle it out in front of the goaltender and get some greasy goals.

Today’s game should give Robin Lehner a chance to improve upon his season so far as he is expected to start in net against the Kings to close out the two game series.

The Kings have been notorious for not being able to put the puck in the net on a consistent basis the past few years. So I am sure Lehner is looking forward to having the opportunity to improve upon his stats and grab his third win of the season. If the Knights can eliminate their unforced errors in terms of giveaways they will make his job that much easier, as they had eight last night. Against a team that has a more potent offense, those mistakes would have probably been more glaring.

Other than the giveaways, it’s hard to complain about the Knight’s performance Friday night. VGK outshot the Kings 36-29 and won the faceoff battle with a 54% success rate. If they eliminate the turnovers and continue their strong possession numbers, today’s game should look pretty similar to Friday’s game. There have been no additional injuries reported or players added to COVID protocol so I expect the lineup to not change much, especially after a dominating win.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play this afternoon taking on the Los Angeles Kings for the second time this season at T-Mobile Arena. The puck drop is set for 12 p.m. and will be on AT&T SportsNet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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