The LA Kings were once again able to come from three goals down to force overtime, but were unable to collect the second point in a 4-3 overtime defeat on Saturday evening against the Carolina Hurricanes at Crypto.com Arena.
Carolina opened the scoring just 12 seconds into the game. Off the opening faceoff, the Hurricanes worked the puck in deep off the forecheck, with William Carrier winning possession below the goal line in the offensive zone. Carrier fed forward Jordan Staal, who was unmarked in front of Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg, and the Carolina captain buried his 300th career NHL goal for an early 1-0 advantage.
Staal made it two for both himself and his team as he buried for the second time in the game’s first four minutes to open up an early 2-0 advantage. With a man left uncovered again in the slot, Carrier fed the puck from below the goal line to Staal between the hashmarks and he shot fivehole, past Forsberg and in, for his third goal of the season and a two-goal lead for the visitors.
Early in the second period, Carolina took advantage of a Kings turnover at the offensive blueline, turning it into a quick 2-on-0 rush the other way. Defenseman K’Andre Miller made the interception and fed forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi in alone the other way, with a teammate just behind. Kotkaniemi kept the puck himself, deked to the backhand and scored his first goal of the season for a three-goal advantage.
Less than a minute later, however, the Kings got on the board through forward Trevor Moore to pull a goal back. Stationed in the slot, Moore moved to his left and whacked at a bouncing puck, shooting inside the far post on Carolina goaltender Brandon Bussi and in. Moore’s goal was his second of the season, his first at even strength, to get the Kings within 3-1.
Inside four minutes to play in the second period, the Kings scored again to pull within 3-2. Skating on their first power play of the game, forward Quinton Byfield won the faceoff in the offensive zone and after some quick puck movement and a direct, attacking style, Byfield fed forward Andrei Kuzmenko at the back post for a slam-dunk goal, his second of the season, as the Kings moved to within one.
With just under nine minutes to play, the Kings cam all the way back to tie the game at three goals apiece. Skating up ice, on the rush, forward Adrian Kempe gained the offensive zone, dropped the puck back to forward Kevin Fiala and drove forward to create space. Fiala worked his way into the right-hand circle, picked his spot inside the far post and buried his team-leading fourth goal of the season, tying the game at three.
After the Kings came all the way back, they were unable to find the game-winning goal in the extra session. Forward Seth Jarvis scored the game-winning goal for the Hurricanes to secure the second point for the visitors.
Hear from Kempe, Fiala and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s overtime loss 👇