The LA Kings played a perfect game on the road as they down the Golden Knights in a 5-1 win on Saturday night.

Goal Breakdown

First period:

LAK: Kevin Fiala (11), ASST: Blake Lizotte (11), Gabriel Vilardi (10)

Second period:

LAK: SHG Matt Roy (5), ASST: Rasmus Kupari (4), Anze Kopitar (21)

LAK: Kevin Fiala (12), ASST: Sean Durzi (18), Gabriel Vilardi (11)

Third period: 

LAK: Viktor Arvidsson (11), ASST: Sean Walker (7), Phillip Danault (18)

VGK: Jonathan Marchessault (15), ASST: Nicolas Roy (10), Phil Kessel (10)

LAK: EN Kevin Fiala (13), ASST: Blake Lizotte (12), Gabriel Vilardi (12)

Dominance

The house doesn’t always win. The LA Kings played arguably one of, if not their best 60-minute game of the season. The penalty kill went 3-for-3 and even scored a short-handed goal off the stick of Matt Roy. Last night was a perfect team game played by the Kings in all three phases. The tight checking was evident once again as they only allowed 11 shots on goal in the final 40 minutes and completely took over the second period.

Through 60 minutes, the Kings only allowed 20 shots on goal and not many odd-man rushes against a good Vegas team. Back in the early stages of the season, when head coach Todd McLellan kept saying the Kings to find their identity, well that is it. That is how the Kings should play going forward. It is what made them successful last season. They went into T-Mobile arena and earned a well-deserved two points.

Kevin Fiala records a hat trick

After last season ended, it was evident the LA Kings needed a game-breaker. General manager Rob Blake made that a priority and went out and acquired Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild and signed him to a seven-year extension shortly after. It’s safe to say that the trade has worked out well, as Fiala leads the Kings in both assists (29) and points (42) through 43 games and was just named an all-star. Well, Fiala proved why he was an all-star last night, recording his first hat trick as an LA King.

Fiala’s second goal of the game made it 3-0. What’s so great about it? Just look at the patience and stick work. Sean Durzi’s pass from the blue line down low to Fiala had Vegas’ netminder Logan Thompson sliding across the crease aggressively, and Fiala showed great patience and stick work to get Thompson scrambling and open the pads just enough to slide the puck underneath them to earn his second of the game. An empty-net goal by Fiala in the final 90 seconds earned him the hat trick.

Copley’s net to lose

It’s no secret the LA Kings had goaltending issues to start the season as both Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen couldn’t keep the puck out of the net. Scoring five, six, or seven goals a night is great, but when you give up that many in the same night, it’s frustrating. After a 9-8 loss to the Kraken in November, the Kings placed Cal Petersen on waivers the following day. He would clear waivers and be assigned to the Ontario Reign to work on his game. Well, Petersen has struggled in Ontario lately, and Quick has been relegated to backup duties as he has had his fair share of struggles.

Over the last month, the Kings have been relying on 30-year-old Pheonix Copley, or as some refer to him as “Stopley”. So far, he has given them a chance to win almost every game he has started in net. While the numbers he has put up aren’t elite (2.52 GAA, .904 save percentage), he has given the Kings a chance to win and made the saves when needed. That is all you can ask for. It should be Copley’s net going forward as the Kings should go with the hot hand for now.

UP NEXT: The Kings return home to kick off a four-game homestand on Monday as they take on the Edmonton Oilers. Another huge divisional matchup awaits. The game starts at 7:30 PM PT and can be seen on Bally Sports West.

Feature image credit: Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

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