Golden Knights score 5 in third period to beat Kings 6-4 and spoil Artemi Panarin’s LA debut

DAN GREENSPAN Thu, February 26, 2026 at 6:12 AM UTC

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1 / 0Golden Knights Kings HockeyVegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev (16) celebrate his goal against the Los Angeles Kings with right wing Reilly Smith, center, and center Tanner Laczynski (28) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij) ()

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pavel Dorofeyev had two goals and the Vegas Golden Knights spoiled Artemi Panarin’s Los Angeles debut by scoring five third-period goals to rally for a 6-4 win over the Kings on Wednesday night.

Colton Sissons, Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith scored three goals in a span of 4:14 midway through the third and the short-handed Golden Knights overcame the absence of five players who participated in the gold medal game at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday. Ivan Barbashev added a late empty-netter, and Adin Hill made 15 saves.

Vegas played without United States center Jack Eichel and defenseman Noah Hanifin and Canada forwards Mark Stone and Mitch Marner and defenseman Shea Theodore, all of whom are expected to be available when their five-game road trip continues against the Capitals in Washington on Friday night.

Quinton Byfield had two goals, Adrian Kempe and Brandt Clarke scored, while Panarin had two assists in his team debut, but the Kings dropped their fourth straight game.

Panarin, who was acquired in a trade from the New York Rangers on Feb. 4, set up the Kings’ opening goal by putting his pass in off Byfield’s skate on the power play late in the first period and had the secondary assist on Kempe’s goal in the second period.

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Anton Forsberg made 19 saves for the Kings, who came out of the Olympic break three points out of a wild-card berth.

The Golden Knights found themselves trailing after two periods as Panarin reached the 40 assist mark for the 11th straight season. But they responded with a strong final 20 minutes, including Dorofeyev’s power-play goal with 4:01 remaining that made it 5-3.

Up Next

Golden Knights: Visit Washington on Friday night.

Kings: Host Edmonton on Thursday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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Source: “AOL Sports”