Los Angeles Kings are going to have to get used to Las Vegas
By Keith Rivas
For the Los Angeles Kings, the latest expansion team in Vegas is giving them a run for their money.
As the NHL season continues to weed out who will be atop each respective division, the Los Angeles Kings are back in front of the Pacific division with 48 points, but second place is not far behind.
Right on their tail are the Golden Knights of Vegas, with 46 points, who have stormed out and surprised out of the gate.
One of the bigger reasons that Vegas remains a threat to Los Angeles is the fact that they have the highest scoring offense in their division and second only to Winnipeg in all of the Western Conference.
More from LA Sports Hub
- Lakers: 5 Players to Target Through Trades to make another championship run
- LA Chargers: Week 8 against Denver Broncos is a must-win
- LA Rams: Jared Goff wants to keep the Los Angeles title streak going
- Lakers Rumors: Los Angeles Clippers interested in Rajon Rondo
- LA Chargers: Justin Herbert wins AFC Rookie of the Month
The Golden Knights have been dominant at home, with a 14-2-1 record but have struggled on the road, floating on the .500 mark. Los Angeles has managed to stay ahead of the game, though, thanks to having the best overall defense in all of hockey, allowing an NHL-best 83 goals to this point in the season.
LA also holds an 86.6% penalty kill percentage, which is best in the league, while the Golden Knights have the 24th best penalty kill unit with a 78.1% kill percentage.
This is worth bringing up because three days after Christmas, the Kings and Golden Knights will meet in Los Angeles in what could help us figure out how their head-to-head matchups will be like for the foreseeable future.
LA and Vegas haven’t seen the same ice since Nov. 19 and after their clash on Dec. 28 won’t play again until the end of February, where they’ll end the month with back to back games. In their only meeting so far this season, Vegas bested Los Angeles by a final of 4-2 after throwing 40 shots at the net.
Next: There's No More Debating Kyle Kuzma
It was the second worst allowance by the Kings defense in the month of November, with the worst coming not long prior in a game against the surging Tampa Bay Lightning. However the rest of this new potential rivalry plays out should be fun to watch for all hockey fans.