LAS VEGAS — Lias Andersson scored a goal in his first game back after missing more than a month and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Wednesday night.
The Kings snapped their three-game skid and a three-game losing streak in Las Vegas.
Vegas had its six-game home winning streak snapped, and dropped just its third home game in regulation this season.
Andreas Athanasiou, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings, while Cal Petersen improved to 4-1-0 against Vegas after stopping 40 shots. Peterson has both of Los Angeles’ wins over Vegas this season.
William Karlsson and Shea Theodore scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 26 saves.
Los Angeles looked sharp early by staying disciplined in the first period, avoided giving Vegas an opportunity by staying out of the penalty box, and was nimble in pushing the puck through the neutral zone efficiently to keep the pressure on Fleury and control the tempo early.
Athanasiou opened the scoring when he snuck behind Vegas’ Zach Whitecloud and William Carrier to gather a loose puck, skated into the zone and beat Fleury with a backhand over his glove.
The Kings extended their lead to two goals when Tobias Bjornfot fired a rebound from the point and it trickled through Fleury’s pads, and Andersson punched it home in his first game back in more than a month.
It marked the second time in the past three games the Golden Knights allowed two goals in the first period.
Vegas cut the lead in half when Jonathan Marchessault’s shot caromed off Los Angeles defenseman Matt Roy’s skate and the puck trickled to the goal line, where Karlsson snuck a snap shot from the side of the net.
The Kings got their two-goal lead back when Athanasiou won the race to a loose puck and fired a shot Fleury lost track of, giving Anderson-Dolan time to jam in.
Seconds after killing a penalty, Iafallo got behind Vegas’ defense as Fleury skated toward the puck to attempt a poke check. Recognizing one of Fleury’s patented moves, Iafallo deked to his left and fired the puck into a wide-open net to give Los Angeles a 4-1 lead.
Theodore whipped a wrist shot from the point as Karlsson’s perfect placement in front of the net screened Petersen as the puck got through to cut Los Angeles’ lead in half early in the third period.
UP NEXT
Los Angeles: Hosts San Jose on Friday.
Vegas: Hosts Minnesota on Thursday.
