Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 6–4 Final Los Angeles KingsLAK

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Final	1st	2nd	3rd	T	SOG
Vegas Golden KnightsVGK	1	0	5	6	25
Los Angeles KingsLAK	1	1	2	4	19

Playoff odds, %	Change
LAK	-6.2
VGK	+2.9
EDM	+0.7
SEA	+0.6
ANA	+0.6
UTA	+0.5

How the result moved each team's playoff odds, calculated Feb 23, 2026 9:51 PM EST.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
10:59	VGK	Pavel Dorofeyev (27) Tanner Laczynski (3), Reilly Smith (8) · wrist xG 0.24	1–0 ▶
14:31	LAK	Quinton Byfield (12)PP Artemi Panarin (39), Brandt Clarke (22) · deflected xG 0.10	1–1 ▶
2nd Period
14:44	LAK	Adrian Kempe (21) Anze Kopitar (17), Artemi Panarin (40) · snap xG 0.18	1–2 ▶
3rd Period
8:07	VGK	Colton Sissons (4) Braeden Bowman (14), Adin Hill (1) · backhand xG 0.08	2–2 ▶
11:16	VGK	Brandon Saad (3) Colton Sissons (4), Alexander Holtz (6) · snap xG 0.12	3–2 ▶
12:21	VGK	Reilly Smith (10) Tanner Laczynski (4), Brayden McNabb (2) · backhand xG 0.06	4–2 ▶
13:26	LAK	Quinton Byfield (13) Andrei Kuzmenko (11) · wrist xG 0.12	4–3 ▶
15:59	VGK	Pavel Dorofeyev (28)PP Tanner Laczynski (5), Braeden Bowman (15) · wrist xG 0.18	5–3 ▶
18:54	LAK	Brandt Clarke (7) Adrian Kempe (27), Andrei Kuzmenko (12) · slap xG 0.06	5–4 ▶
19:32	VGK	Ivan Barbashev (17)EN Tomas Hertl (28), Brayden McNabb (3) · wrist xG 0.50	6–4 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

VGK 65%Deserve to win35% LAK

VGK		LAK
3.84	Expected goals	1.97
6	Goals (no shootout)	4
2.55	Expected goals, 5 on 5	1.55
63	Shot attempts	57
49	Unblocked attempts	31
25	Shots on goal	19

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

3rd Period
0:20	LAK	No shift	No shift · Helenius, 11:08 on the bench No shift from 8:14 of the 2nd to 1:27 of the 3rd; 7 shifts (6:09) before that
15:59	LAK	Goalie	Goalie · Forsberg −2.2 goals saved 5 goals on 2.79 xG, 24 shots on goal
16:17	LAK	Pulled goalie	Pulled goalie · Pulled Forsberg, down 5–3 With 3:43 left; LAK scored at 18:54 of the 3rd (5–4)
18:54	VGK	Goalie	Goalie · Hill −2.0 goals saved 4 goals on 1.97 xG, 19 shots on goal
18:59	LAK	Pulled goalie	Pulled goalie · Pulled Forsberg, down 5–4 With 1:01 left; VGK scored at 19:32 of the 3rd (6–4)

Shot map

VGK shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ LAK shoots

About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Vegas Golden Knights

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
48	Tomas Hertl	0	1	1	+1	4	0.23	1	0	18:58
49	Ivan Barbashev	1	0	1	0	7	0.82	0	1	18:24
16	Pavel Dorofeyev	2	0	2	+1	9	1.05	0	1	17:29
55	Keegan Kolesar	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	4	0	17:12
28	Tanner Laczynski	0	3	3	+2	2	0.00	0	0	15:43
19	Reilly Smith	1	1	2	+2	1	0.06	1	1	15:30
10	Alexander Holtz	0	1	1	0	4	0.22	2	0	14:10
20	Brandon Saad	1	0	1	0	7	0.44	0	0	13:35
15	Colton Sissons	1	1	2	0	3	0.08	2	3	13:23
42	Braeden Bowman	0	2	2	+1	2	0.16	1	0	13:13
77	Kai Uchacz	0	0	0	-1	1	0.17	1	1	12:38
29	Cole Reinhardt	0	0	0	0	4	0.14	1	2	11:25
Defense
4	Rasmus Andersson	0	0	0	0	2	0.17	0	2	23:42
5	Jeremy Lauzon	0	0	0	-1	4	0.05	10	2	21:30
3	Brayden McNabb	0	2	2	+1	7	0.18	2	4	21:18
6	Kaedan Korczak	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	1	6	21:13
52	Dylan Coghlan	0	0	0	+2	3	0.05	0	0	15:15
17	Ben Hutton	0	0	0	+2	2	0.02	0	1	14:42

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Adin Hill	19	4	15	.789	1.97	-2.03

Los Angeles Kings

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
9	Adrian Kempe	1	1	2	0	7	0.44	3	1	22:20
55	Quinton Byfield	2	0	2	+1	8	0.34	2	0	21:08
10	Artemi Panarin	0	2	2	0	7	0.30	0	0	21:05
14	Alex Laferriere	0	0	0	-1	8	0.24	4	1	18:23
11	Anze Kopitar	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	0	0	17:28
37	Warren Foegele	0	0	0	-1	3	0.06	1	0	14:33
12	Trevor Moore	0	0	0	-1	3	0.12	2	0	14:03
62	Andrei Kuzmenko	0	2	2	+1	2	0.05	0	0	13:35
15	Alex Turcotte	0	0	0	-3	3	0.19	2	1	12:57
40	Joel Armia	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	2	0	10:57
90	Corey Perry	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	10:34
79	Samuel Helenius	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	3	0	07:58
Defense
8	Drew Doughty	0	0	0	+1	3	0.03	0	1	21:10
44	Mikey Anderson	0	0	0	0	4	0.11	2	2	20:12
5	Cody Ceci	0	0	0	-1	3	0.01	0	2	19:21
92	Brandt Clarke	1	1	2	-2	3	0.06	0	3	19:20
6	Joel Edmundson	0	0	0	-3	2	0.00	1	3	18:06
2	Brian Dumoulin	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	2	0	17:11

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Anton Forsberg	24	5	19	.792	2.79	-2.21

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Vegas Golden Knights

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
16 Pavel Dorofeyev R	+2.85	+1.50	+0.68	+0.60	0.00	0.00	+0.07	—	17:29
28 Tanner Laczynski C	+2.53	+2.10	0.00	+0.44	0.00	-0.03	+0.02	—	15:43
10 Colton Sissons C	+2.37	+1.45	+0.05	+0.71	0.00	+0.01	+0.15	—	13:23
3 Brayden McNabb D	+1.95	+1.10	+0.12	+0.53	0.00	0.00	+0.20	—	21:18
19 Reilly Smith R	+1.86	+1.30	+0.04	+0.50	0.00	-0.01	+0.03	—	15:30
20 Brandon Saad L	+1.69	+0.75	+0.28	+0.63	0.00	+0.01	+0.02	—	13:35
26 Alexander Holtz R	+1.52	+0.55	+0.14	+0.87	0.00	0.00	-0.04	—	14:10
42 Braeden Bowman R	+1.45	+1.25	+0.10	+0.10	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	13:13
49 Ivan Barbashev L	+1.28	+0.75	+0.53	-0.04	0.00	+0.01	+0.03	—	18:24
48 Tomas Hertl C	+1.22	+0.70	+0.15	+0.38	0.00	-0.01	0.00	—	18:58
17 Ben Hutton D	+0.99	0.00	+0.01	+0.93	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	14:42
52 Dylan Coghlan D	+0.89	0.00	+0.03	+0.86	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	15:15
6 Kaedan Korczak D	+0.83	0.00	+0.01	+0.52	0.00	0.00	+0.30	—	21:13
23 Cole Reinhardt L	+0.52	0.00	+0.09	+0.31	0.00	+0.01	+0.10	—	11:25
5 Jeremy Lauzon D	+0.35	0.00	+0.03	-0.06	+0.30	0.00	+0.08	—	21:30
4 Rasmus Andersson D	+0.06	0.00	+0.11	+0.02	-0.15	0.00	+0.08	—	23:42
77 Kai Uchacz C	-0.02	0.00	+0.11	-0.13	0.00	-0.03	+0.03	—	12:38
55 Keegan Kolesar R	-0.19	0.00	0.00	-0.17	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	17:12
33 Adin Hill G	-1.48	+0.55	—	—	0.00	—	—	-2.03	60:00

Los Angeles Kings

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
55 Quinton Byfield R	+2.29	+1.50	+0.22	+0.53	0.00	+0.04	0.00	—	21:08
9 Adrian Kempe R	+1.61	+1.45	+0.29	-0.15	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	22:20
11 Anze Kopitar C	+1.60	+0.70	0.00	+0.88	0.00	+0.04	-0.02	—	17:28
72 Artemi Panarin L	+1.40	+1.25	+0.19	+0.11	-0.15	0.00	0.00	—	21:05
96 Andrei Kuzmenko L	+1.09	+1.25	+0.04	-0.34	+0.15	0.00	0.00	—	13:35
2 Brian Dumoulin D	+0.70	0.00	0.00	+0.70	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	17:11
92 Brandt Clarke D	+0.50	+1.30	+0.04	-0.97	0.00	0.00	+0.13	—	19:20
8 Drew Doughty D	+0.28	0.00	+0.02	+0.27	0.00	0.00	-0.01	—	21:10
12 Trevor Moore L	+0.03	0.00	+0.08	-0.03	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	14:03
14 Alex Laferriere R	-0.06	0.00	+0.16	-0.29	0.00	0.00	+0.07	—	18:23
44 Mikey Anderson D	-0.26	0.00	+0.07	-0.43	0.00	0.00	+0.10	—	20:12
10 Corey Perry R	-0.48	0.00	0.00	-0.34	-0.15	+0.01	0.00	—	10:34
5 Cody Ceci D	-0.55	0.00	+0.01	-0.66	0.00	0.00	+0.10	—	19:21
79 Samuel Helenius C	-0.74	0.00	+0.01	-0.73	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	7:58
37 Warren Foegele L	-1.04	0.00	+0.04	-1.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	14:33
15 Alex Turcotte C	-1.15	0.00	+0.12	-1.26	0.00	-0.04	+0.03	—	12:57
40 Joel Armia R	-1.51	0.00	0.00	-1.50	0.00	-0.01	0.00	—	10:57
6 Joel Edmundson D	-1.57	0.00	0.00	-1.72	0.00	0.00	+0.15	—	18:06
31 Anton Forsberg G	-2.21	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	-2.21	56:50

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.