On Saturday night, the LA Kings welcomed the Carolina Hurricanes to Crypto.com Arena, the only undefeated team remaining in the NHL heading into play. With number one goaltender Darcy Kuemper still out day-to-day with a lower-body injury, Anton Forsberg made his third start of the year.
If the Kings hoped to jump off to a good start, they were immensely disappointed by their first-period effort. Carolina instantly jumped all over a hapless LA defense, as Jordan Stall was left wide open at the netfront, giving the Canes a 1-0 lead just 12 seconds into the contest. Ceci lost a puck battle behind Forsberg, and Byfield was caught puck-watching, allowing Stall to find wide-open ice.
Carolina continued to apply pressure, and LA made the same mistake three minutes later. Once again, Jordan Stall was left all alone in the slot, and he fired a one-timer past Forsberg to give the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead. His second goal of the night leaked through Forsberg, trickling across the goal line. The Canes continued to control play until the first period buzzer, taking their lead into intermission.
The second finally started to see the Kings generate some offense, but a mistake at the blue line by Andrei Kuzmenko led to a 2-on-0 jailbreak the other way. A nifty backhand goal for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, his first of the year, made it 3-0 Carolina. Although LA turned the tide immediately after, and notched two goals before second intermission.
Trevor Moore blasted a bouncing puck past Bussi to get the Kings on the scoresheet, and then, with just under four minutes left in the second, Kuzmenko knocked in a wide-open power-play tally. His goal was aided by a beautiful one-touch pass by Quinton Byfield, bringing LA within one.
The game was almost tied at intermission; however, a second Trevor Moore goal was waved off immediately due to Goaltender Interference, much to the crowd’s displeasure.
Despite a much slower-paced third period, LA was able to complete the comeback. Winger Kevin Fiala sniped a rister past the goaltender from the right circle, helped by a drop pass and screen by Adrian Kempe, who tallied his second assist of the game. From there, Forsberg made some huge saves, keeping the game tied and forcing overtime.
The extra session was short-lived. Carolina owned puck possession at 3-on-3, and Seth Jarvis cashed in on a broken play, putting the game-winner past the Kings’ netminder.
While the three unanswered goals and comeback were impressive, Jim Hiller was disappointed in how his team started tonight’s game.
“This tonight is unacceptable, especially when you know there is nobody that does it better than them,” said Hiller, referring to Carolina’s ability to come out of the gates fast. He also cited giveaways as a reason for LA’s quick deficit. “What killed us was turning the puck over.”
A big positive tonight from Los Angeles was the play of backup goaltender Anton Forsberg. After the shaky start, the veteran stabilized and found his groove for much of the second and third periods.
“He kept us in the game,” said Kings forward Adrian Kempe.
Another notable performance was the play of LA’s third line. Warren Foegele, Phillip Danault, and Moore, posted an impressive 67.3 expected goals percentage for the 12:41 minutes of ice-time (TOI). Their line also led the Kings in TOI, and had numerous scoring chances in all three periods. Unfortunately for LA, the positive performances still were not enough.
The Kings are currently facing more questions than answers. A 1-3-2 record is good for sixth place in the Pacific Division, and the team is still searching for its first win on home ice, following a year in which they held a historically good home record. They will try to climb up the standings on Tuesday when they travel to St. Louis, kicking off a five-game road trip.