We’ll start on a high note, with goaltending. Cal Petersen played very, very well for the Kings and if he hadn’t, the game could’ve gotten a bit ugly. He faced a ton of quality chances but made some great saves to keep the game competitive. The high-danger scoring chances for the game landed at 19-7, in favour of the Ducks (according to NaturalStatTrick.com). So if there’s one positive takeaway, it’s Petersen’s performance and really, his start to the season overall.
After Petersen, however, there aren’t too many other players whose performances are deserving of praise. Defensively, the Kings really struggled. They were consistently getting outworked behind their own net and lost far too many puck battles.
Up front, the Kings weren’t much better. They had a total of 11 shots after the second period and couldn’t get anything going. Los Angeles couldn’t sustain pressure in Anaheim’s end and other than a couple quick breaks, the Kings managed very few quality chances. Arthur Kaliyev did get a goal in his first NHL game though, so there's that.
This is definitely a game to forget for the Kings. The effort and focus weren't there and they’ll have a couple days off before their next game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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Were you happy with Arthur Kaliyev's performance in his first NHL game?
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