ONTARIO — The Kings began the preseason inauspiciously on Saturday evening, dropping this year’s Empire Classic at Toyota Arena to the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights, 4-2.
Andre Lee and Lane Pederson each picked up a goal for the hosts. Anton Forsberg, the Kings’ playoff starter, made 12 of 15 saves in a loss.
Viliam Kmec and Raphael Lavoie scored for Vegas late in the first period, and Kmec added an assist on the first of two Jackson Hallum markers deep into the contest. 2023 Stanley Cup hero Adin Hill came up with 17 stops.
Both teams iced groups that were light on high-profile veterans. Forsberg was joined by Trevor Moore and Scott Laughton as the only other players who finished last season as regulars and were locks for a roster spot this year. Jared Wright, Kenny Connors, Erik Gustafsson and Lee were notable NHL-AHL tweeners clad in black and silver.
“It’s Game 1, there were a lot of new bodies in there and different faces from what you’ll see on opening night,” Kings coach Peter Laviolette said, who was hired in the offseason. “I was happy with the effort; I thought we played hard.”
A low-event game got spicy late, with the teams trading goals to leave Vegas back in front before it tacked on an empty-netter.
Hallum drove wide to sneak a low shot past Forsberg for what stood as the game winner, with 5:31 to play. He then found the vacated cage for a second goal as 1:23 showed on the clock.
“There were definitely some system plays we’d like to have back, especially that (second to) last goal,” Connors said.
The Kings had pulled even with 7:54 left in the match when Pederson crashed the net to push home Northridge native Cole Guttman’s rebound.
“It’s Game 1, you can’t expect it to be perfect, but I was happy that we got better as the game went on,” Connors said.
Through 40 minutes, the Kings were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill (they finished 4-for-4) as Forsberg settled in after some defensive miscues late in the first period. Yet they found themselves down a goal.
They had halved their deficit 87 seconds into the second period when Lee converted a rush opportunity with authority off a sweet setup from Connors. Tallying at Toyota Arena was a familiar feeling for Lee, who finished second on the Reign in goals with 26 last season.
“(The crowd) was awesome. The fans here are unbelievable, as we saw tonight. I’m sad that we couldn’t get the win for them, but I’m sure that they’re going to show up to the next game and cheer for us,” Lee said.
A hermetically sealed first period opened up when the visitors struck twice in the span of 52 seconds.
Kmec, who also notched the first goal of the preseason for Vegas last year, opened the scoring before Lavoie stretched Vegas’ lead 38 seconds before the first intermission.
Kmec’s blistering slapper from the right circle was Vegas’ second shot of the game. They went up 2-0 after an atrocious Kings line change gave the Golden Knights a 3-on-0 chance that Lavoie finished conclusively.
“The first period was really good for 18 minutes. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more offensively,” Laviolette said. “We were sitting there in a good spot … then we got caught on one goal and a puck got knocked down in the neutral zone and came back (at us) quick.”
Next up, the Kings will host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday in their second of four exhibition games.