LOS ANGELES — Whether it be Quinton Byfield’s four assists, Trevor Moore’s two goals or Kevin Fiala’s seventh goal in the last six games, plenty of Kings played catalyst against the Golden Knights on Monday.
Despite Moore scoring first, the Kings struggled to further capitalize early on, as Vegas dominated the second period thanks to goals from Brayden McNabb and captain Mark Stone.
“In the second period, [the Golden Knights] were all over us,” Byfield said. “They were beating us in every puck battle, they were playing simple and we weren’t.”
However, playing as if the season was on the line, the Kings crafted a four-goal third period, as Moore, Warren Foegele, Joel Edmundson and Fiala put the puck past Ilya Samsonov to run away with the victory.
The 5-2 win puts the Kings just three points back of the second-place Oilers and five back from the division-leading Golden Knights and was LA’s second victory over Vegas this season. The Kings are now 19-3-2 at Crypto.com Arena and 26-0-2 when scoring at least three goals.
Head coach Jim Hiller credited “work, determination and focus” as the Kings’ driving factors in coming back from the one-goal deficit. “All of those lead to the belief that if we do those things, there’s a chance,” Hiller said.
Byfield’s four assists were a career-high, bringing him to 10 total in February. The Kings’ power play unit, which has struggled immensely this season, was one-for-three, lighting the lamp in back-to-back games.
Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for the Kings, winning his eighth consecutive game at home. Dating back to games before the 4 Nations Face-Off, LA has won five of its last six.
Talk of Troy reporter Kasey Kazliner reported from the rink at Crypto.com Arena and analyzed the game on Skate of Thrones, TOT’s LA Kings podcast.