LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Kings (26-14-5) came into their matchup with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers (28-18-3) having lost four of their last five games, largely due to offensive struggles.
In perhaps an attempt to break the dry spell, head coach Jim Hiller went with a 12/6 lineup (12 forwards, six defensemen) for the first time since November, rather than the 11/7 lineup the Kings have been rolling with for the past few months. Hiller made the adjustment to get center Akil Thomas into the game.
The new offensive strategy didn’t have an impact right away as the two teams had a very back-and-forth first period. When the Panthers moved the puck into the offensive zone, they were able to dominate possession for extended periods of time. But the Kings created better chances overall during the period, as their creative stick work and passing kept them a step ahead of the Cats.
The Kings’ best offensive stretch in the first twenty minutes came during a power play midway through the first period, after center Quinton Byfield drew a high-sticking penalty on the Panthers’ captain, center Aleksander Barkov. But despite several great chances for the black and silver, Florida goalie Spencer Knight kept the Kings off the board. The Kings had a second power play later in the period, but looked much more fatigued and didn’t create nearly as many good chances to score.
Byfield was a standout player for how he frustrated some of Florida’s finest, sitting both Barkov and superstar left winger Matthew Tkachuk down for two minutes each. But despite his efforts and some crisp passing from the Kings overall, the score remained knotted at 0-0 at the end of the first.
Unfortunately for the Kings, the only power play of the second period went to their opponent after a hooking penalty on center Phillip Danault. And even more unfortunately, the Panthers’ power play was extremely effective, launching a barrage of shots on goal until center Evan Rodrigues had a look off the rebound that was too open to miss. His goal made it 1-0 in favor of the defending champs.
The rest of the second period was more of the same as the Panthers managed a whopping 17 shots on goal. Somehow, a team that had played the night before in Anaheim looked more energetic than the Kings. Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper didn’t let any more squeak into the net, but the Kings still found themselves trailing two-thirds of the way through the match.
But the story was completely different in the third period. The Panthers must have finally felt the fatigue from playing the night before at least a little, because it felt like the entire period took place in the Kings’ offensive zone. Knight continued his strong night overall, but the Kings were relentless on offense.
“We just kept grinding, shooting to the net,” said left wing Kevin Fiala.
They were able to tie the game up early in the period with a goal off the rebound from rookie defenseman Samuel Helenius, his first in the NHL. Ironically, despite their ambitiously offensive lineup, it was the young defenseman who tied the game up for Los Angeles. His teammates celebrated, giving Helenius a moment he would never forget.
“It feels so good, everyone’s excited, and myself too,” Helenius said. “It’s so nice.”
They just kept scrapping offensively, keeping the ball in their offensive zone and throwing it toward Knight in net. A few minutes later, defenseman Brandt Clarke set up Fiala for a great shot attempt which was saved but right wing Adrian Kempe poked the puck through Knight’s legs to put the Kings in front 2-1.
Florida sold out offensively to try to score the game-tying goal, but that ultimately only led to several breakaway opportunities for the Kings. While Knight continued his solid performance in goal, it neutralized any hope that Florida had for a consistent threat, helping the Kings hold on for a 2-1 victory.
It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, per se, but the effort and intensity had Hiller very proud of his team postgame.
“When you watch the game tonight, that’s [a] top two or three game that we’ve had all season as far as hockey goes,” Hiller said. “It’s a hard-fought game, it’s a playoff-style game. Great opponent.”
With a tough East Coast trip next up on the schedule, the Kings will need to capitalize on the momentum from this victory to keep earning points.
“We can’t treat it like the ‘dog days’ even though it might be,” Hiller said. “We’re challenging our team … to this year play through that. Because we think if we can do that it’s an advantage because it is a really tough part of the schedule.”
The Kings will be in action next against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at 4 p.m. to open their five-game East Coast trip.