The Los Angeles Kings suffered their first loss of the season this afternoon, falling 2-1 in overtime to the Boston Bruins.
The Kings were much more alive right from the start this time around, forechecking hard to cause some issues for Boston in the offensive zone. Similar to the game against Buffalo though, Los Angeles got into some early penalty trouble, going shorthanded twice in the first 10 minutes of the game. Still, the Kings did a good job killing, and actually had some of the better chances while shorthanded, including a great rush opportunity from Trevor Moore that was stopped.
It was a pretty low-event period from there where the Kings really didn’t give up much to the Bruins at all, until Darcy Kuemper was forced to make a huge pad save on Trent Frederic to keep the game scoreless. Boston did carry the play a little bit more to end the period, but overall, it was still a much better opening to the game than what we saw in Buffalo.
Early in the second period, the Kings ended up with their first power play. While they didn’t capitalize on the man advantage itself, just a few seconds after the penalty expired, Trevor Moore got a puck at the side of the net off a broken pass and scored, putting the Kings on the board.
Warren Foegele then had a good chance after that, followed by another Kings’ power play, but Los Angeles wasn’t able to extend the lead. A penalty-filled second period continued, but with just three minutes to go in the frame, shortly after Darcy Kuemper had made a big save on Charlie McAvoy, the Bruins came down ice on a rush chance at 4-on-4 off a turnover. While Kuemper made an initial save on Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm was able to put the rebound through Kuemper to tie the game. Boston then came inches away from taking the lead in the dying seconds of the frame off a point shot from Mason Lohrei, but the puck rang off the post to keep things tied through 40 minutes.
The Kings had another early power play early in the third period, but weren't able to convert. We didn’t see a ton of quality chances exchange from there, before the teams traded power plays in the final six minutes of the frame. The Kings’ best chance was a cross-crease pass where Trevor Moore had a chance at the side of the net, but he was stopped by Jeremy Swayman. As a result, the game continued to overtime.
We saw some good chances in the first minute of the extra frame, with the Bruins having a partial odd-man rush where Pavel Zacha had a good opportunity, then Quinton Byfield drove to the net for a great chance.
David Pastrnak ended up with a good one-timer opportunity after that, but while the Kings were able to exit the zone, Brandt Clarke couldn't get to the loose puck and Boston came right back down ice. Pastrnak then took a nice pass from Mason Lohrei and beat Kuemper five-hole, giving the Bruins the win and the extra point.
It’s kind of an interesting way for the Kings’ first two games to play out. They were dominated through much of the game in Buffalo, and ended up with a win they probably didn’t deserve. Today though, they came out with a much better performance, but couldn’t get the job done.
Ultimately, it was a battle against a good team where both the Kings and Bruins had their chances (right down to overtime), but Boston just managed to capitalize. I think overall, the Kings’ performance in the loss today inspired a lot more confidence than the win in Buffalo.
The Kings’ penalty kill also continued to be rock solid today, killing off all five penalties once again. You’d like to see the number of penalties they’re taking get reduced, but it’s good to see they’ve had no trouble killing them off when they do come.
Darcy Kuemper also looked good again. He maybe should’ve had the rebound goal from Lindholm, but he also made several good stops that could’ve, or even should’ve gone in. It was another really strong performance in goal.
Overall, it was a pretty evenly-played game, the Kings just came up a little short. They’ll be back in action on Monday, as they continue their season-opening road trip in Ottawa.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Are the Kings destined to be a middle-of-the-pack team this season?
- Darcy Kuemper shines as Kings sneak out win over Sabres in season opener
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