LOS ANGELES — The Kings rallied from three goals down to steal a point from the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes but still lost, 4-3 in overtime, at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday night.
Wins have been tough to come by for the Kings (1-3-2), but they could perhaps draw a moral victory from circling the wagons against the undefeated Hurricanes (5-0-0).
Trevor Moore, Andrei Kuzmenko and Kevin Fiala each lit the lamp for the Kings. Adrian Kempe contributed two assists. Anton Forsberg made 36 saves with Darcy Kuemper (lower-body) again unavailable.
Jordan Staal tallied twice and Kasperi Kotkaniemi also scored before Seth Jarvis deposited the OT winner. K’Andre Miller chipped in a pair of assists. Brandon Bussi moved to 2-0-0 in his second career start, stopping 25 shots.
With 3:15 displayed on the OT clock, Jarvis disregarded the Kings’ momentum, coolly snapping home the winning goal to preserve Carolina’s unblemished record.
With 3:30 remaining in regulation, the Kings nearly capped their comeback when Moore stripped rookie Alexander Nikishin at the defensive blue line, only to miss the net on his breakaway attempt.
The Kings clawed their way back, even with 8:58 to play. Off the rush, Kempe left a drop pass for Fiala, who glided onto the right faceoff dot to rip home an equalizer.
Alex Laferriere, who centered the top line in place of the injured Anže Kopitar (foot, week-to-week), nearly knotted the score early in the third period. His backhand bid was denied emphatically by Bussi.
The second period began inauspiciously for the Kings but ultimately put them within striking distance of an opponent that had threatened to run away with the game.
Carolina extended its lead to 3-0, padding their advantage 3:43 into the stanza. Kotkaniemi finished a rare two-on-none break all by himself thanks to a Kings miscue at the offensive blue line.
The Kings recovered that marker less than a minute later when Moore broke up Bussi’s shutout. Moore stepped into one shot attempt from the slot that was blocked and then launched a second that became his second goal of the season.
Warren Foegele would have a goal disallowed for goalie interference, leaving the count at 3-1 until the Kings struck on the power play with 3:56 left in the frame. Kempe’s deflected shot attempt came to Quinton Byfield, who one-touched the puck across the blue paint to Kuzmenko for a redirection tally.
The opening four minutes of the match put the Kings in a hole that they did little of note to climb out of in the rest of the first period.
Calamity struck just 12 seconds into the contest. William Carrier beat Cody Ceci cleanly for position and the puck, dipping behind the net and dishing back toward the opposite post for Staal. His goal was the 300th tally of his career.
Kempe took a penalty 41 seconds after puck-drop, which the Kings killed, only to cede No. 301 to Staal at the 3:58 mark. Samuel Helenius chased the puck below the goalline, leaving Staal completely unmarked in the slot for a one-timer.