Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena to host first preseason game Friday

The NHL expansion team in Las Vegas won't begin play until 2017-18, but in the meantime, the Los Angeles Kings will host a pair of games on the strip.

The T-Mobile Arena will be home to two exhibition games this weekend as part of the Frozen Fury series, with the Kings and Dallas Stars facing off Friday, while the Colorado Avalanche take on the Kings on Saturday.

"It's going to be fun," Kings winger Tyler Toffoli told Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I'm anxious to see the building. I hear it's beautiful."

The Frozen Fury, an annual event since 1997, was previously held at the nearby MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Kings have participated in the event every year.

The NHL first came to Las Vegas in 1991 as part of an outdoor game played before Caesars Palace, with Wayne Gretzky and the Kings defeating the New York Rangers in front of 13,000 spectators.