The Kings first win of the 2026-27 season finally came Tuesday night in Washington. The Los Angeles Kings came back from 2-0 down to beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 at Capital One Arena. Adrian Kempe scored twice, Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves against his former team. The Kings are now 1-4-2. The cost was Quinton Byfield, who left in the first period with an upper-body injury after just 2:44 of ice time.
Our Kings vs Capitals preview set up the game. Here is how it went.
Kings First Win: Scoring Summary
From NHL.com’s official game summary:
- 1st, 9:25 WSH: Ryan Leonard (Jonny Brodzinski, Anthony Beauvillier), 1-0
- 1st, 18:35 WSH (PP): Cole Hutson (Jordan Kyrou, Jakob Chychrun), 2-0
- 1st, 19:27 LAK: Adrian Kempe (Artemi Panarin, Alex Laferriere), 2-1
- 1st, 19:58 LAK: Artemi Panarin (unassisted), 2-2
- 3rd, 7:28 LAK (PP): Erik Gustafsson (unassisted), 3-2
- 3rd, 11:35 LAK: Adrian Kempe (Panarin, Laferriere), 4-2
- 3rd, 18:15 LAK (EN): Scott Laughton (Joel Armia, Erik Haula), 5-2
Shots were 32-26 for Washington. The Kings went 1-for-2 on the power play, and the penalty kill allowed one goal on four Capitals chances. Los Angeles had 28 hits to Washington’s 21 and blocked 18 shots, per the NHL.com boxscore.
Two Goals in 31 Seconds
Washington led 2-0 after Hutson’s power-play goal with 1:25 left in the first period. Fifty-two seconds later, Panarin cut in off the right wing in transition and fed Kempe, who finished top shelf from the left circle, according to LA Kings Insider. With two seconds left in the period, Mikey Anderson pinched down the wall to force a turnover, and Panarin beat Logan Thompson high to tie the game.
“Obviously, you’re down 2-0 and you score two in 30 seconds or whatever it was,” Kempe said, per LA Kings Insider. “That can shift momentum a lot. I think coming into the locker room after that, everybody kind of felt that now we go.”
Peter Laviolette agreed. “I thought the shift at the end of the first period, with two goals like that… that was, I think, really important,” he said.
Erik Gustafsson Goes End to End
The winning goal came from a defenseman. As a Kings power play was ending in the third, Gustafsson carried the puck through the neutral zone, split the defense, went in alone and beat Thompson on his forehand. It was his first goal as a King, per LA Kings Insider.
“That’s a real highlight-type play,” Laviolette said. “It’s kind of old school, you go back and wheel it out of your own end, split everything up the middle and get behind and then to finish it off too.”
“That was unbelievable,” Kempe said. “Gus is one hell of a player.”
Kempe then scored again at 11:35. He forced a turnover below the goal line with his forecheck, went to the net, and Panarin found him. Laughton added the empty-net goal at 18:15, his first of the season, with Armia and Haula assisting.
The Top Line and Kuemper
- Adrian Kempe: two goals, six shots, plus-3. LA Kings Insider notes he moved past Jim Fox for 11th on the Kings’ all-time points list with 480.
- Artemi Panarin: one goal and two assists, the Kings’ first three-point game this season, per LA Kings Insider. He has goals in four straight road games to start the season.
- Alex Laferriere: two assists and 20:37 of ice time.
- Darcy Kuemper: 30 saves on 32 shots. It was his 61st win as a King, tying Felix Potvin for seventh in franchise history, per LA Kings Insider. Kuemper played for Washington from 2022 to 2024, per AP.
“I thought that our goaltender was terrific tonight, Darcy played great for us,” Laviolette said. “They got a lot of talent on the other side there, so he had to make big saves and he did.”
The LA Kings’ official highlights:
Washington’s Side
Logan Thompson stopped 21 of the 25 shots he faced, per NHL.com. After Hutson’s goal, the Capitals did not score again for the final 41:25, AP noted. Washington was missing two centers, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif, per AP. Leonard’s goal was his team-leading eighth point, according to LA Kings Insider, and Hutson’s power-play goal was his second of the season. Washington had been 4-1 at home before Tuesday and next hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, per AP.
Quinton Byfield’s Injury
Byfield played only four shifts, per Hockey-Reference, before leaving with what Laviolette called an upper-body injury. Laviolette said Byfield would be evaluated further Wednesday morning. There is no timeline yet, and his status for Thursday is unconfirmed. AP noted the Kings lost their “second-line center.” Mats Zuccarello returned to the lineup and played 15:55 with three shots, per NHL.com, after Laviolette had called him “trending.”
Laviolette Wants Better Defense
The coach was not completely satisfied. “I think when we go back and watch the game, we’re going to look at it defensively to see what we can tighten up,” Laviolette said. “We hadn’t really been that loose in recent games, it’s just that we weren’t scoring.” The Kings came in with four goals in their previous four games, per AP, and scored five here, their most of the season.
Kempe kept it simple. “We put the puck in the back of the net, which is important, it hasn’t really bounced that way for us so far this year,” he said.
Source Notes
- Our preview’s goalie projection: yesterday’s preview passed along Daily Faceoff’s projection of Anton Forsberg as the starter, clearly labeled as unconfirmed. LA Kings Insider’s game-day preview said Kuemper would start, and he did.
- Capitals’ record: Hockey-Reference shows Washington at 5-4-0 after the game.
What’s Next
The Kings practice Wednesday at UBS Arena and play the New York Islanders there on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. PT, per NHL.com and LA Kings Insider. They then visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday and the New York Rangers on Monday.
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