By W.G. RAMIREZ The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — The Kings’ season-opening, cross-continental journey ended with a thud in Sin City.
The next time they lace up their skates for a game, they’ll finally be doing it on home ice.
Tomas Hertl had two goals and two assists as the Vegas Golden Knights hammered the Kings, 6-1, on Tuesday night, the visitors’ final stop on a season-opening seven-game trip necessitated by renovations at Crypto.com Arena.
Vegas snapped a three-game losing skid, all during a recent road trip, and remained unbeaten at home this season.
Mark Stone, Pavel Dorofeyev, Alexander Holtz and Ivan Brabashev also scored for the Golden Knights, while Ilya Samsonov stopped 31 shots.
Warren Foegele scored and David Rittich made 24 saves for the Kings, who finished 3-2-2 on their trip, which did include a stop in Southern California for a short trip to Anaheim to face the Ducks.
Vegas took control early. During a 6:05 span in the first period, the Golden Knights enjoyed one of their best stretches of cohesive hockey since the start of the season, taking a 3-0 lead that was keyed by two goals from their top power-play unit. Hertl got his first goal of the game, followed by Stone’s goal. Dorofeyev capped the three-goal barrage to help Vegas seize momentum.
TAKEAWAYS
Kings: Trevor Moore had six takeaways through the first six games of the season, which was tied for the most by any player in the Western Conference. He finished with none against the Golden Knights.
Golden Knights: After coming into the game with a plus-minus of minus-3, Holtz scored his first goal with Vegas. He was acquired from New Jersey in June, along with goaltender Akira Schmid, for forward Paul Cotter.
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KEY STAT
Hertl tied his career-high with four points, a feat he’s accomplished three other times. It was the 12-year veteran’s first four-point performance since Jan. 17, 2022, when he had four assists for San Jose in a 6-2 victory over the Kings.
UP NEXT
The Kings host San Jose on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in their home opener.