The home opener had all the 60th-anniversary ceremony, but the result stayed the same. The Kings lose to Panthers 2-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night. Alex Laferriere scored late in the first period, but the power play could not add to the lead, including a 5-on-3, and Matthew Tkachuk scored the winner midway through the third. Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves. The Kings are 0-2-1 and still looking for their first win.
Here is the verified recap, following our game-day preview.
Kings Lose to Panthers: How It Happened
First period, 19:00 — Kings 1-0. Laferriere started the play himself, dumping the puck in with speed and winning the race to the corner. Erik Haula got a shot on net, and Laferriere buried the rebound for his first goal of the season. Florida controlled much of the period, but the Kings led after 20 minutes.
The 5-on-3. Florida took a run of penalties around the first intermission, and the Kings had 1:21 of 5-on-3 time, per the NHL game summary. They did not score, and Florida killed the full extended advantage.
Second period, 3:49 — 1-1. Seconds after the kill ended, Seth Jones took a transition pass from Lars Eller, drove to the net and lifted a forehand shot over Kuemper’s shoulder.
Third period, 11:20 — Florida 2-1. Brandt Clarke turned the puck over in the neutral zone. Sam Bennett pulled up in the slot and found Tkachuk on the left side, and his shot squeezed through Kuemper’s pads. The Kings had four shots in the third.
By the Numbers
- Shots: Florida 28, Kings 20.
- Goaltending: Kuemper 26 saves on 28 shots. Jacob Markstrom 19 saves on 20, including all 14 in the second and third.
- Special teams: neither team scored on the power play.
- Hits: Florida 33, Kings 13, per the Panthers.
- Fight: Joel Edmundson and Garnet Hathaway dropped the gloves at 7:40 of the second.
- Attendance: 18,145.
The Goalie Call
Kuemper started, as the Kings had planned. Kuemper and Anton Forsberg have split the first three starts. “This was exactly the plan, coming in, for right now,” Peter Laviolette said before the game, according to LA Kings Insider. Both goals came from Florida transition plays after Kings mistakes.
Laviolette: “We’re in the Business of Winning Hockey Games”
Laviolette did not take comfort in a tighter game. “We are in the business of winning hockey games,” he said. He added that a 2-1 loss and a quieter game offered no consolation.
His diagnosis was puck management. “We turned it over too much in our end, we turned it over too much in the neutral zone,” he said.
On the 5-on-3, he said the response mattered more than the missed chance. “Once it doesn’t happen, we need a big shift. We need a big response after that,” he said. “To me that just didn’t happen.” He liked the penalty kill and noted the Kings had “three breakaways or three and a half breakaways” at 1-0 without converting.
Doughty: “Still Confident in What We’re Building”
Captain Drew Doughty did not sound alarmed. “I thought we fought hard.” he said. The momentum “kind of shifted on us when we couldn’t really get that PP going,” he said, but “I’m still confident in what we’re building.”
He does not think the system needs changes. “I don’t think we need to adjust anything on systems. I just think we need to do them better and when we do get our chances, we’ve got to capitalize.” On the power play, he suggested simplifying: “You don’t always have to enter with possession, just sometimes get it in and get to work.”
Marchand Injury and Florida’s Night
Florida lost Brad Marchand late in the second period. He took a high stick from Clarke, which drew a double minor and went into the post. He did not return. Paul Maurice said Florida would have him looked at “probably Thursday.” The Panthers, already without Aleksander Barkov for six to eight weeks, are 2-0-2.
“I like our 5-on-5 game an awful lot,” Maurice said. He also noted Florida “gave up eleven even-strength shots tonight.” Tkachuk summed it up: “It was 2-1 filthy tonight to finish off a road trip.”
Opening-Night Notes
The 60th-anniversary night went ahead as planned. Fans got retro goalie masks, the new Hall of Fame display was unveiled, and the “First Look” series premiered with the System of a Down “Toxicity” video. Mats Zuccarello played after taking a maintenance day Monday. Erik Gustafsson stayed paired with Clarke in the 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup. For more on the home-opener plan, see our festivities preview.
Three Takeaways
- The Kings struggled to create offense. Twenty shots, including only 14 after the first period, will not win many games. Laviolette said the offense was “off a beat tonight,” and Markstrom stopped every shot after the first period.
- The Kings’ mistakes decided it. Florida’s second goal came off a neutral-zone turnover, and Laviolette pointed to turnovers in both zones. Against a forechecking team like Florida, that matters every night.
- The penalty kill and 5-on-5 defense held up. Florida went 0-for on the power play, and Laviolette called the kill “really good.” Doughty’s view that the team needs to run the systems better, rather than change them, seems reasonable after this game.
Watch: Kings Postgame on Infanity TV
Hear Doughty, Laferriere and Laviolette after the home opener:
What’s Next
The Kings practice Wednesday at noon in El Segundo, then visit the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday, October 10, at 7 p.m. PT. After three games, the 5-on-5 play has been competitive. Turnovers, power-play finishing and getting a first win are the issues to fix.
Results so far: a regulation loss, an overtime loss in San Jose and now a one-goal loss to Florida. The Kings have one point from three games. The Laferriere-Haula connection is a positive; for more on how the Kings’ power play worked in San Jose, see our Sharks overtime recap. Vegas will be another test of whether the team can play cleaner with the puck.
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