The Los Angeles Kings picked up a win in their home opener last night, holding on for a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Kyle Burroughs checked back into the Kings’ lineup in place of Andreas Englund to play with Vladislav Gavrikov, while Mikey Anderson was paired with Jordan Spence. Though Darcy Kuemper was also activated off injured reserve, David Rittich got his fifth straight start.
The game also marked Carl Grundstrom’s return to Los Angeles.
First Period
The Kings had a great chance right away, with Quinton Byfield taking a pass in the slot only about 30 seconds into the game, only to be stopped by Mackenzie Blackwood. However, not even five minutes in, Trevor Moore came down ice and fed a pass to Jordan Spence, who beat Blackwood to open the scoring.
Then only about four minutes after that, Warren Foegele took the puck to the crease from behind the net, and it bounced back to him, with Foegele capitalizing to extend the lead.
A fight between Andre Lee and Luke Kunin followed, and then only three minutes after Foegele’s first goal, he tipped in a shot from Brandt Clarke, putting Los Angeles up 3-0 only a little over midway through the period.
The Sharks did end up with a power play late in the frame, but the Kings had a good kill, and kept their three-goal lead in tact after outshooting San Jose 17-7 in what was a really strong opening frame.
Second Period
San Jose opened the middle frame on the power play, but Los Angeles had the best chance while shorthanded, as Trevor Moore nearly beat Blackwood in the first minute, drawing a penalty in the process.
The Kings couldn’t capitalize on their limited man advantage from there, but did end up taking the play to San Jose once again in the first half of the frame. The Sharks had another power play midway through the frame though, and Mikael Granlund ripped a long-range shot over Rittich to get San Jose on the board.
Los Angeles went to a power play of their own shortly after, but got nothing going, and Mikey Anderson did have a shot deflect off the post later, but the Sharks started to build pressure as the frame went on, and ended the period on another power play, as the Kings held a 3-1 lead, despite the momentum really starting to shift.
Third Period
We saw a slower start to the third period from there, and Tanner Jeannot had a great chance to put the game away on a breakaway, but he was denied by Blackwood. But San Jose ended up being the better team through a lot of the frame, outshooting Los Angeles by a 12-6 margin in the period.
The Kings then ended up taking two late penalties, and while they killed off the first, the Sharks pressed late on the second man advantage. With the net empty for a 6-on-4, and Sharks pulled the game back to within one, off another goal from Mikael Granlund, very similar to his first goal.
Los Angeles did hang on from there though, getting by with a 3-2 win.
Takeaways
In terms of the positives, the Kings opened the game with one of their best periods of the season. They completely outplayed San Jose through the first half of the game, jumping out to an early lead with all the momentum.
But then they were undisciplined, and let San Jose back into the game with avoidable penalties, giving the Sharks six opportunities on the man advantage. The Kings took their foot off the gas, and the game got too close for comfort against a winless opponent in the Sharks. They ended up being outshot 19-13 in the back 40 minutes.
While the Foegele - Turcotte - Laferriere line continues to excel, there’s still a ton of inconsistency with most of the group.
It may be one of the most uninspiring 4-2-2 starts possible. On paper, the Kings are getting results, but they’ve also faced a fairly low quality of competition to this point, and continue to struggle to put together complete games.
Two points is two points, but it’s not a win that necessarily builds momentum going forward. The Kings are back in action tomorrow, when they host Utah.
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
- Kings come up short against Bruins, fall 2-1 in overtime
- Kings suffer OT loss to Senators in wild 15-goal game
- Kings fall behind early, give up six goals in loss to Maple Leafs
- Kings take down Canadiens to snap three-game skid
- Kings put forth another strong effort in win over Ducks
- Kings’ brief momentum comes to a halt in 6-1 loss to Golden Knights
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