Golden Knights comeback comes up short against Kings

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After mixing and matching their lineups for most of the preseason, the Golden Knights treated Friday night's preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings as a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Marc-Andre Fleury got the start in net for the Golden Knights and the team's top two lines to end last season suited up and skated together for the first time this preseason.

Just a minute and a half into the game, the Knights were able to briefly spring Max Pacioretty behind the defense, but the Kings' defense closed the scoring window quickly. After Jonathan Quick made the save on Pacioretty's wrist shot, things got a little chippy between the two teams behind the Kings net.

A couple minutes later, that nastiness continued. Brayden McNabb lined up the Kings' Blake Lizotte and hit him hard into the boards. Lizotte's helmet went flying, but the refs said it was a clean hit, and the two teams payed on.

Nearly half way through the first period, the Kings drew first blood. Trevor Lewis set up his teammate, Michael Amadio, who was able to tip in the backhander for the first goal of the game. The Kings took the early 1-0 lead.

Just a couple minutes later, after a questionable roughing call against Cody Eakin, the Golden Knights found themselves on the penalty kill. Fleury made the initial stop, but couldn't corral the rebound from Alex Iafallo. Iafallo got credit for scoring the second Kings goal and that's how the first period would end, with the Golden Knights trailing 2-0.

The second period would belong to Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. The Golden Knights had plenty of scoring chances, but Quick was too much. Quick saved all 34 shots he faced in the first two periods to keep the score 2-0 in favor of the Kings heading into the third period.

But the Golden Knights got one back early in the third. Good passing on the power play led to a great chance for Paul Stastny and he finally found a crack in Jonathan Quick with his one-timer. Stastny's first goal of the preseason cut the Kings lead in half and got the Golden Knights crowd back into it.

Less than a minute later, the Golden Knights completed the comeback. On the rush, Max Pacioretty dropped the puck off for Brayden Mcnabb, who ripped a wrist shot by Jonathan Quick. The game was tied up at 2 with a little more than 14 minutes remaining.

But with about nine minutes left in the third period, the momentum swung back in the Kings favor. Facing the Kings rush, Fleury made the initial save, but couldn't cover up the rebound. Kevin Clifford was in the right place at the right time for the Kings, scoring the go-ahead goal with 8:59 left in the third period. Despite a furious comeback attempt and a near buzzer-beating goal for the Golden Knights, they fell to the kings 3-2 in the team's sixth preseason game to drop the Golden Knights to 4-2 during the preseason.

The Vegas Golden Knights will be in preseason game action again on Sunday, when they take on the San Jose Sharks at 5 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena. You can watch that game on KTNV.