Thursday night, the Los Angeles Kings lost just their second road game in regulation against the Vegas Golden Knights.
It wasn't a bad performance from the Kings, in fact, they probably played well enough to beat a good chunk of teams in the NHL.
Their performance reminded me a bit of Wednesday's game against the San Jose Sharks. They started slow and grew into the game as it went on.
The problem is, the Golden Knights aren't the Sharks. You can't give them a 2-0 lead before waking up and flipping the switch.
They're going to suffocate you once they have the lead and they won't give up too many chances.
That's exactly what happened on Thursday, the Kings turned up the heat and had a much better second half of the game, but couldn't quite complete the comeback.
On the positive side of things, the way the Kings created offense and the determination was improved compared to previous tight games against the league's best.
In the past, against the league's best teams, the Kings haven't seemed willing to grind out wins. To get into the dirty areas of the ice and score greasy goals.
That wasn't the case Thursday, Anze Kopitar's goal came through two layers of traffic and the Kings were engaged physically all night.
Vegas is a heavy, nasty team and Los Angeles stood up to them for the most part.
As Todd McLellan put it, that's a championship-caliber team and it's good for the Kings to play that level of opponent.
If they can fix their slow starts, they can go toe-to-toe with that team and grind out a result.
They just have to find a way to come out with the same intensity they finish with.
The Kings have proven they belong in the same conversation as Cup contenders like Vegas, and they're right there, they just need that extra boost to get them over the line.
Another big positive was, once again, the Kings' top line. They were on the ice for Vegas' first goal and left a bit to be desired defensively on that play.
However, after conceding that goal they took over.
They spent the vast majority of their ice time against Vegas' top line, one of the better lines in hockey, and worked them for most of the game.
If that Byfield-Kopitar-Kempe line isn't the best in hockey outright, it's certainly in the conversation for best line.
Angus Booth Signs ELC:
More of a housekeeping note here, on Friday morning the Kings announced that 2022 fourth-round pick Angus Booth had signed his entry-level contract.
This gives Booth the option to join the Ontario Reign after his junior season ends, if the Reign are still playing, and the option to play in the AHL next season.
Booth's a reliable two-way defender who's drawn comparisons to Mikey Anderson from director of amateur scouting Mark Yannetti.
Booth's still a few years away from challenging for an NHL roster spot, but having the AHL availability for the end of this season and next season is a plus.