Golden Knights-Kings rivalry

The Golden Knights-Kings rivalry is a professional ice hockey rivalry between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). One of the more recent rivalries to grow in the league, the Golden Knights joined the league as an expansion team prior to the 2017–18 NHL season. The Kings have been longtime members of the league, particularly in the Smythe Division (later the Pacific Divsion) since their founding in 1967. The Golden Knights immediately ascended to playoff success upon their first season; reaching the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals and eventually winning the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. At the time of the inception of the Golden Knights, the Kings had long been the most dominant team in the division during most of the 2010s, winning two Stanley Cups in the process. Both currently play an ongoing preseason matchup in Salt Lake City known as Frozen Fury. The two teams have met once in the postseason during the 2018 First Round, with the Golden Knights winning the series in a 4-0 sweep. Las Vegas currently leads the all-time series 19-14.
==History==
The NHL had sought for numerous years to grant an expansion team in Las Vegas given its rapid population boom during the 2000s. In 1991 the Kings and New York Rangers played an exhibition game later known as the Frozen Fury series in which the Kings would regularly play a preseason matchup in Las Vegas. The series later ended in 2016 once the league announced the creation of a new expansion franchise for Las Vegas. Despite the series coming to an end; the Kings and Golden Knights revived the Frozen Fury series, playing an annual game in Salt Lake City.
Upon joining the league in 2017, the Golden Knights shocked numerous sportswriters and analysts alike as they became the first expansion franchise to win their first eight of nine games. Meanwhile the Kings had regressed gradually following their 2014 Stanley Cup Victory, losing control of the division to the arch rival Anaheim Ducks for the previous two seasons. Upon their inaugural season; Las Vegas immediately took control of the division, meeting the Kings in the opening round of the postseason, winning in a sweep. Despite defying all expectations of an expansion franchise; Las Vegas ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals in an upset series loss of their own. During the 2019-20 season; Kings' fan-favorite defenseman Alec Martinez would be traded to Las Vegas.
The Kings managed to rebuild their franchise and slowly dispose of inconvenient contracts, returning to the postseason in 2023, but falling to the Edmonton Oilers in both 2022 and 2023. During the 2022-23 season, longtime Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick would also be traded to Las Vegas on March 1, 2023. Despite his notable decline with the Kings for numerous seasons following their two Stanley Cup victories, both Quick and Alec Martinez proved to be pivotal pieces of the Golden Knights' title push, walking up together to lift the trophy after defeating the Florida Panthers in five games.
==See Also==
Other Rivalries between Los Angeles and Las Vegas based sports teams.
*Chargers-Raiders rivalry
*Angels-Athletics rivalry
==References==
Category:National Hockey League rivalries