Their season may be a mere two games old, but the Kings have already shown a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
For the second straight outing, a 3-1 second intermission advantage turned into a 4-3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild at Staples Center Saturday night.
“That’s two games in a row that played out almost identically and we shouldn’t have let either of them get away,” Coach Todd McLellan said.
Saturday’s loss featured Minnesota goals with 1.4 seconds left in regulation and with 11 seconds to play in overtime.
When asked about his words to the team after the game, McLellan was blunt: “There weren’t any.”
Forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Blake Lizotte and Andreas Athanasiou scored goals for the Kings, while a rejuvenated Jeff Carter contributed two assists. Jonathan Quick made a mix of thrilling, timely and routine saves, 40 of 44 in total, and was again unblemished on behind a busy penalty killing unit.
Defenseman Matt Dumba, center Joel Eriksson Ek and veteran defender Ryan Suter found the net for Minnesota in regulation before center Marcus Johansson ended the game off a one-timer deep into overtime. Suter also chipped in with an assist while winger Jordan Greenway had a pair of helpers. Cam Talbot also made his second straight start and fought off 30 of 33 shots.
Saturday night also began inauspiciously for the Kings, ceding a goal 21 seconds into the match. Dumba sent a shot on net from the sharpest possible angle–parallel to the goalline–that ricocheted off Quick and then defenseman Kurtis MacDermid before entering the net.
“We went over that faceoff probably 10 minutes before we went out and the very first one in our end they score off of,” McLellan said. “I’m quite disappointed in a lot of guys tonight.”
The Kings drew even after some purposeful puck movement found Austin Wagner in the slot. His shot generated a rebound that Vilardi pushed home with just under three minutes left in the first period.
The goal was initially waived off but awarded after video review, and the scoring was also changed. For a second straight game, forward Adrian Kempe had a goal come off the score sheet.
“(Vilardi and I) were both there and the puck was on the line,” Kempe said. “We were just hoping for it to be allowed and it was good.”
Quick made an athletic save late in the period as forward Nick Bonino made a shot fake and cross-ice pass for a point-blank shot by Johansson that Quick pushed across his crease to deny. In the second period, he made another difficult stop, a kick save with his left leg while sliding to his right. In the third, he turned away Eriksson Ek on a breakaway that would have knotted the game at three.
Seven minutes into the second period, the Kings took a lead on another play where a Drew Doughty slap shot turned the puck into a Super Ball. It touched three players as it banked in sharply for a goal that was credited to Lizotte.
Midway through the middle frame, Athanasiou and Carter worked a give and go play off the rush that culminated in a rebound goal for Athanasiou, his second in as many games since joining the Kings as a free agent.
That sent the Kings into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead for the second straight game.
“(Our discussion) was about keeping the push on and our foot on the gas. If we go into a shell, we’re asking them to pepper us,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said.
That lead proved ephemeral as 7:38 into the third period the Wild halved it. The Kings killed a penalty successfully but had their defensemen caught out on the ice for a shift that was more than double the ideal length. The Wild capitalized, sending two players to the goal crease in pursuit of a rebound that Eriksson Ek swept into the net.
The Kings took five penalties Saturday after accumulating six on Thursday, and their total of 11 is more than they took in any two games last season. They killed off all 11 on paper, but their line changes and flow of play suffered noticeably with so much shorthanded time.
“It’s the same script as the other night, the same result,” McLellan said. “You take a penalty, you wear your team out, individuals don’t get on the ice and the other team’s best players get touches and they begin to feel real confident.”
The Kings managed to sustain possession and maintain intensity protecting the lead late, but with their goalie pulled the Wild sustained over a minute of pressure and later had the puck in the offensive zone in the waning seconds.
Suter collected a wobbling puck high in the zone and flung it toward the net, where it knuckled past Quick to tie the game with 1.4 seconds on the clock.
Late in regulation, the Kings hit the post on a long shot toward an empty net, leaving the door open for Suter and the Wild.
The Kings’ heartache persisted in overtime as winger Kirill Kaprizov found Johnansson for a one-timer that sealed the Kings’ fate with 11 seconds remaining in overtime.
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Kings blow another big lead, lose in OT to Minnesota - LA Daily News
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