The Vegas Golden Knights lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Los Angeles Kings in Mitch Marner's debut on Thursday. After going down 2-0 in the first period, Pavel Dorofeyev netted a hat trick in the second period alone. Vegas then took a 5-3 lead in the third period, blowing that to force overtime and later, a shootout. This is the first opener the Golden Knights have lost since 2018, per SinBin.Vegas.
“VGK came back from down 2 goals in regulation twice. They could not do it in shootout, however. VGK have lost on opening night for the first time since 2018 despite holding a 2-goal lead themselves with less than 9 minutes to go,” SinBin posted.
The Golden Knights last lost their season opener in their second season, falling 5-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018. Even the year they missed the postseason, 2021-22, they won their opener before dropping five in a row. With Stanley Cup aspirations and two freshly paid superstars up front, the Golden Knights are behind the 8 Ball already.
The biggest question in Vegas this year is their defense, which suffered a big loss in the offseason. Alex Pietrangelo is out for the entire regular season and playoffs due to a hip injury. The Golden Knights could make a trade to improve it later in the season, with Rasmus Andersson potentially on the block, but they are a weak unit for now.
The Golden Knights have a chance to immediately bury the loss with three games against non-playoff teams. They face the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, with games against the Seattle Kraken and Calgary Flames after. This is an important stretch for the Golden Knights to get on the right track and start banking points.
The Golden Knights hit the road to face the Sharks in San Jose's home opener on Thursday night at 7:00 Pacific time.
