The LA Kings limped into the Olympic break with a 4-1 loss on Thursday evening against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas opened the scoring more than eight minutes into the game, capitalizing off of a faceoff win in the offensive zone to take a 1-0 lead. The Golden Knights worked the puck to forward Jack Eichel with a little bit of space in the left-hand circle and the centerman took full advantage, as he beat Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg clean with his shot for his 21st goal of the season and the one-goal lead.

The hosts doubled their advantage just over three minutes later, with Eichel’s line once again involved. Eichel nearly fed forward Ivan Barbashev for the goal, but he missed wide at the back post, though the Golden Knights kept the play alive offensively. Barbashev then fed forward Mark Stone in front of the net, where he scored on the backhand for his 21st goal of the season and a 2-0 lead.

The Golden Knights added two more goals in a span of just 20 seconds to quickly turn a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 lead.

First, Vegas capitalized on its first power play of the game to extend the lead to three goals. A couple of quick passes found Stone with space and he worked the puck through the slot to forward Pavel Dorofeyev, who scored first time for the 3-0 lead. Forward Mitch Marner made it 4-0 just 20 seconds later, capitalizing on a Kings turnover deep in their own zone, finishing off a pass from Dorofeyev for the four-goal advantage.

Forward Trevor Moore pulled a goal back for the visitors inside five minutes to play in the first, as the Kings moved back within three goals down. Two nice passes by forwards Anze Koptiar and Joel Armia sprung Moore down the right wing and he drove the net with speed, finishing on the forehand from close range, past Vegas goaltender Adin Hill, for his seventh goal of the season. Kopitar’s assist was his 1300th career NHL point.

Neither team found the back of the net over the final 40 minutes of play, with the 4-1 scoreline in favor of Vegas holding up as the eventual final score.

Hear from Kopitar and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Anze Kopitar
On the start tonight and the defensive breakdowns leading to the goals allowed
No secret, it was obviously a slow start and they made us pay. That was pretty much the game. I thought second and third were good, creating chances, but we’ve got to be better, that’s the bottom line.

On if he felt the focus and mindset was where it needed to be before the break
Yeah, it’s second end of a back to back, obviously everybody’s looking towards the break but at the same time, you’ve got to be ready to play those games. I mean, these points are just as important as the points coming out of the break. We didn’t get the job done.

On creating, but not finishing chances at 4-1 to get back into the game
That’s what we’re trying to do, obviously it didn’t go. We had some chances, but we’ve got to do a better job.

On reaching 1,300 points in the NHL and the significance of that number
Took me a bit longer than tha n I thought it will, but, yeah, here we are. We’ve just got to keep on going. These numbers are going to be, I think, a little bit better to look at once it’s all said and done. Now, it’s about the team, obviously. Taking some time off now, but coming out of the break and we have, I believe, about 25 games or so and make sure we get into the playoffs. Then it’s about writing different chapters again.

On coming out of the break with Artemi Panarin as a teammate
I mean, there’s no secret to his game. He’s a gamebreaker and obviously very skilled, an offensive player. We’re going to definitely welcome him. Hopefully we can get clicking right away and rack up some wins right after the break.

Jim Hiller
On the turnovers and defensive-zone breakdowns being even more glaring than last night
More glaring in that they were able to finish four times. The defensemen are pretty banged up, we haven’t talked about that. So, we can’t put them under duress. We put them under duress and our forwards had to do a better job, they didn’t. Then, we give good players chances like that, they don’t need two or three. That’s what we saw today,

On Andrei Kuzmenko’s status after taking the shot to the face
He made his way back, so that was positive. Obviously, they checked him out, he was able to come back, but yeah, he just wasn’t able to finish, let’s put it that way. He was in good spirits. I haven’t seen him since he left again, but we wouldn’t have put him back out if he wasn’t okay.

On if one more goal from a litany of chances at 4-1 could have changed the game back
I thought so, yeah, we needed one, right? I mean, we didn’t like the start, obviously, buried ourselves, but then there’s still lots of hockey game left. If you can get one, you get momentum, now you’re only down by two. You get another one, you get pull the goalie, whatever is going to happen, it gives you a chance. The best part of our game was the last 40 minutes but the game, unfortunately, is probably done if you can’t score consistently. That’s where we’re at.

On if he feels the break is coming at the right time for this team
Probably like every other team in league, we’ve got some guys playing that are quite a ways South of 100 percent, so we’ll need that time to get everybody back, just like everybody else. Then, we’ve got to sprint. Once we get back here, she’s a sprint to the end. It’s a challenge, right in front of us, and we’ll answer the bell.

On Anze Kopitar reaching 1,300 career points
I thought Kopi was good tonight, so that was probably his best game back. What can you say about this guy that hasn’t been said already? He’s not done yet. I think that’s probably the most important part of this, he’s going to get more than 1300, there’s more things, more milestones to accomplish here before the season’s over. We’re happy to have him back and get those games under his belt as we go.

On where the team is at coming into the break
It’s staring right in front of us. You can see where we’re at in the standings, you don’t have to be a math major to understand that when we get back here, there’s very little margin for error. That’s where we’re at. Hasn’t been good enough. So, get yourself ready, because we’ve got no margin for error, as I mentioned, and you’ve got to go. And it’s not just you, it’s everybody. That’s the challenge that we’re facing.

Notes –
– Forward Trevor Moore (1-0=1) scored his seventh goal of the season, extending his goal streak against the Vegas Golden Knights to a fourth game (5-0=5), dating back to his two-tally night on Feb. 24, 2024. The native of Thousand Oaks, Calif., is the 16th player in League history to record a four-game goal streak against Vegas and is the third to do so in an LA Kings uniform, joining Warren Foegele (4-2=6 in 4 GP from Oct. 22, 2024 – March 9, 2025) and Jeff Carter (4-1=5 in 4 GP from Feb. 26, 2018 – Dec. 23, 2018). The Kings are the only team to have had multiple skaters record such a streak against Vegas.
– Forward Joel Armia (0-1=1) notched his 10th assist of the season tonight in his first game back to the building where he earned his first point (0-1=1) as an LA King on Oct. 8, 2025.
– Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) recorded his 1,300th career point (446-854=1,300) with his assist on Moore’s goal, becoming the 39th skater in NHL history to record 1,300 points. The native of Jesenice, Slovenia, is the eighth player born outside of North America to reach this threshold, joining Jaromir Jagr (766-1,155=1,921), Alex Ovechkin (919-752=1,671), Stan Mikita (541-926=1,467), Teemu Selanne (684-773=1,457), Jari Kurri (601-797=1,398), Evgeni Malkin (527-863=1,390) and Mats Sundin (564-785=1,349). Kopitar, Malkin, and Ovechkin are three of just five active players to have recorded as many points so far in their respective careers, joining Patrick Kane (500-875=1,375) and Sidney Crosby (652-1,094=1,746).
– The 38-year-old recorded his 27th career assist in his 38th game played against the Vegas Golden Knights. Kopitar is the all-time leader in goals (16), assists (27), points (16-27=43), and power play points (4-12=16) against the franchise. The veteran center leaves the ice at T-Mobile Arena for the final time his career having averaged more than a point-per-game (8-13=21; 1.05 P/GP) in 20 regular season visits to the venue, the sixth highest rate of production among all skaters to play there at least 10 times.
– Defenseman Drew Doughty played his 1,255th career game tonight, breaking a tie with Kevin Lowe (1,254 GP) for sole possession of the 30th-most games played by a defenseman in NHL history. Among active blueliners, only Brent Burns (1,552 GP) has played more regular season NHL contests than Doughty has.

The Kings have reached the Olympic break and will not practice or play until February 18, when the team returns to practice. The Kings will return to game action on February 25, when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at Crypto.com Arena.