LOS ANGELES — Despite missing four players, including their two biggest stars, the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers had more than enough to top the Kings, 5-2, on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings lost for the third time in four games overall and slipped to 1-4-2 at home this season after being the NHL’s best home team last season. The Panthers continued their step-forward, step-back title defense after losing to the Ducks, 7-3, on Tuesday night. Both teams dangled precariously above a .500 points percentage.
Anže Kopitar and Corey Perry each scored for the Kings. Anton Forsberg stopped a meager 19 of 24 shots.
With no Matthew Tkachuk or Aleksander Barkov so far this season, Florida got two goals from Brad Marchand with Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Anton Lundell also depositing the puck. Niko Mikkola chipped in two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.
The third period saw the Kings build opportunities only to see them evaporate summarily.
Down a goal they went to the power play, but after Kopitar was foiled on a backdoor play, a Kevin Fiala giveaway led to a shorthanded breakaway goal for Lundell with 11:19 to play. With 7:24 left, Mikkola’s well-timed pinch at the offensive blue line created an Adrian Kempe turnover, leaving Marchand open for a snipe from the inner part of the right circle that threw the game into the refrigerator.
The Panthers are now 103-6-7 when leading after two periods during the Paul Maurice era, which has seen them win three Eastern Conference crowns and two Stanley Cup titles.
The Kings trailed 3-2 at the second intermission. Their penalty kill improved to 20 for its past 22, with two shorthanded goals offsetting what little they allowed in that span, but gave up an even-strength goal.
At 11:45, after Perry nearly set up Alex Turcotte at the other end, the Panthers pulled back in front off a counterattack. Carter Verhaeghe lent speed to the rush and found Reinhart in the slot for a backhand tally shortly afterward.
The Kings had fallen down by a goal, tilted the ice in their favor to take a lead and then committed a blunder to leave the match tied at 2-2 through 20 minutes.
With 2:30 left in the frame, Forsberg showed little situational awareness as he casually handled the puck behind the net before being stripped by Marchand. The former Boston Bruins captain scored with total ease. Aaron Ekblad’s assist meant that all three key re-signings this summer for Florida recorded a point Thursday since Marchand and Bennett each had a goal.
The Kings had taken their first lead off Perry’s tally 6:30 earlier. Mikey Anderson’s stretch pass eluded a diving Ekblad, finding Perry at the blue line. He dashed in and roofed the puck far side for his sixth goal of the season. That placed him in a three-way tie for the team lead, despite Perry’s having played six fewer games than either Kempe or Fiala.
Perry, who fought A.J. Greer in the waning moments Thursday, drew the penalty that led to the Kings’ first goal, 9:23 into the contest. They had gone 1 for their previous 22 on the power play and gotten just two goals from their centers in a combined 52 games played, until Kopitar scored his first of the season. He deflected Kempe’s shot past Bobrovsky to finally break the seal for 2025-26.
Just over two minutes into the match, the Panthers took advantage of some defensive discombobulation. A turnover by Phil Danault inside the offensive blue line was compounded by multiple pinches in the neutral zone, including by both defensemen, Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci. That ultimately left Andrei Kuzmenko alone at the net front, where Bennett easily out-battled him for a rebound that he popped past Forsberg.
Several members of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers were the Kings’ guests at the game, receiving multiple loud ovations.
More to come on this story.
