Petersen stars as Kings snap Vegas’ 5-game win streak, 3-1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean Walker and Dustin Brown scored 51 seconds apart in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings snapped the Vegas Golden Knights’ five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory Sunday.
Cal Petersen made 41 saves and fell just short of his second career shutout as the Kings avenged the Knights’ 4-2 win at Staples Center on Friday. Captain Anze Kopitar had two assists.
Tomas Nosek scored for the first-place Golden Knights to end Petersen’s shutout bid with 3:27 to play, but Jeff Carter scored a breakaway goal 55 seconds later to seal the Kings’ first win over Vegas this season.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots, but Vegas lost for only the third time in 14 games.
Petersen’s only shutout was on Nov. 19, 2018, in the Iowa native’s third NHL start and fourth appearance. He spent much of the next two seasons in the minors with occasional shots in Los Angeles, but the Notre Dame product has solidified his NHL spot this season, sharing the Kings’ net with Jonathan Quick.
After a scoreless first period, Walker put the Kings ahead with his first goal of the season, shoving the puck under Fleury during a prolonged scrum at the edge of the crease. The stay-at-home defenseman hadn’t scored a goal since Feb. 12, 2020.
Vegas handed a power play to the Kings by unsuccessfully challenging Walker’s score for goalie interference, and Brown cashed in moments later from close range for his 14th goal of another solid season.
The Knights had a two-man advantage for 91 seconds early in the third period after a questionable delay-of-game call against Drew Doughty, but the Kings killed it all.
Vegas sharply increased its offensive pressure in the third, and Nosek scored when Petersen got only a piece of his hard shot with the glove.
The Kings lost defenseman Olli Maatta in the first period to an upper-body injury.
ROY’S DEAL
Before the game, Kings defenseman Matt Roy agreed to a three-year, $9.45 million contract extension. The former seventh-round pick has played his way into a regular role in Los Angeles over 120 games, recording seven assists in 25 games this season.
UP NEXT
Golden Knights: Host Blues on Monday.
Kings: At Sharks on Monday.
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