The LA Kings had a strong showing in their first televised preseason game of the year, topping the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 on Thursday. Even if it’s preseason, it’s always nice to beat Vegas.

First, the box score.

The full box score is here.

A few quick notes from the game:

  • Vladimir Tkachev is going to be a guy for this Kings team. He looked great carrying the puck through all three zones and found Arthur Kaliyev in the slot for the team’s third goal of the night.
  • How about the job Garret Sparks did?
  • Alex Edler looked a tad slow at times, but I liked his ability to break up plays. Still, Sparks had to make a 2-on-1 save in the third period because Edler let his man blow right past him. See video below.
  • A refreshing breath of air – the Kings’ offense was buzzing for most of the night. I loved what I saw from Gabe Vilardi, Lias Andersson, Rasmus Kupari, and Quinton Byfield.
  • Another note on Edler – I thought it was interesting that the Kings wanted to get a look at him on the second PP unit.

Beautiful pass from Vilardi and Lias Andersson did the rest.

I don’t love this

Here was that save referenced earlier

These two teams will meet again on Friday night, and it will be televised on NHL Network at 7 pm PT. What did we think of NHL on TNT?

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