Ontario, C.A.– On Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights kicked off the preseason with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the Empire Classic.
Before I make any observations, I’d like to state the obvious: this is a preseason game, and the first preseason game at that. It was evident— the Golden Knights didn’t make any egregious errors, but there was some “sloppy hockey” that’s typical of a preseason game. Passes didn’t connect, pucks were fumbled, and the overall flow of the game was choppy at times.
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Still, the Golden Knights played a structured game. Their penalty kill was excellent, and they stood strong in the defensive zone to prevent the Kings from getting any real sustained offensive pressure. Preseason or not, these are things you want to see.
Without further ado, here are my three takeaways from the Golden Knights’ 4-2 victory over the Kings.
1. The Good
I’d like to preface this by saying that when it comes to positions in hockey, goaltender is by far the one I know the least about. So I try to avoid making grand observations about goaltenders unless someone who knows a lot more about the position than I do shares my opinion.
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That being said, I liked what I saw out of Adin Hill tonight.
I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Hill in his first start since April 9th. It was probably a bit of a weird night for him— it took the Kings 15 minutes to record their third shot of the game.
But I liked his game. He looked as cool and calm as ever, and he backed it up. Hill made a few really flashy saves, and you can argue that neither of LA’s goals were on him.
Per head coach Ryan Craig, Hill will get another start this preseason. But so far, so good for the netminder.
2. The Bad
The Kings iced only three veteran NHL players tonight: forwards Trevor Moore and Scott Laughton, and goaltender Anton Forsberg. The rest of their roster was made up of younger guys fighting for a roster spot.
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This was a game where you really wanted to see a player like Braeden Bowman shine. He didn’t.
He wasn’t awful, and there’s not a lot of reason to read into this. He’s looked great during drills for the first two days of camp, and one mediocre game is no cause for concern.
But the team didn’t give up much defensively tonight. Really, there were very few negatives to take away from the game.
I just wanted to see more from the guy that made a name for himself at last year’s training camp.
3. The Intriguing
I made the drive out to Ontario tonight because I wanted to see Trevor Connelly’s first preseason game. This is a very talented kid, one that everyone in the organization thinks very highly of. And he quietly had a strong game— he generated a couple great looks, created offense at will, and drew a penalty.
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But the forward that really stood out tonight was Jackson Hallum.
Hallum’s speed has made him extremely noticeable all camp, but there’s always a difference between commanding attention in a drill and commanding attention in a game or scrimmage. Well, tonight, he stole the spotlight once again. He used his speed to create offense, which led to the game-winning goal in the third period.
“I just try to play the best I can with whatever opportunity I’m given,” said Hallum postgame. “I can’t look at the future; I’ve just got to be where my feet are and make the most of what I’m given.”
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