SUNRISE, Fla. — A fortuitous bounce helped give the Kings a chance, but they couldn’t complete a comeback against the reigning champs.
Sam Bennett scored 10 seconds into the third period, Brad Marchand had two assists and the Florida Panthers held on to beat the Kings, 3-2, on Wednesday night and sweep the two-game season series.
Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe also scored for Florida, which has won six of its last seven games. Daniil Tarasov made 27 saves for the Panthers. He denied the Kings’ Trevor Moore on a pair of breakaways, the second one with 4:54 left to preserve a one-goal lead.
Joel Armia and Kevin Fiala had the goals for the Kings, who fell to 0-2-2 in their last four contests. The four-game winless streak matches a season-worst slide for the Kings, who were 0-2-2 from Oct. 11 through Oct. 18 as well.
Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots for the Kings. Armia had the only goal in the first period, and Fiala made it 3-2 thanks to a fortuitous bounce, when a clearing attempt by Florida deflected off his shin and past Tarasov with 15:12 left in the third.
The Kings had a chance to tie the score in the final minutes, after Florida’s Anton Lundell was called for high-sticking with 3:05 left. The Kings managed only one shot on the ensuing power play – about half of which was with a two-man advantage after Forsberg was pulled for an extra attacker – and the Panthers held on from there.
The first two goals of the game were nearly identical – deflections on the power play.
The Kings scored first as Armia redirected a shot from Brandt Clarke with 6:21 left in the initial period. After the deflection, the puck dipped down and went between Tarasov’s pads.
Florida tied the score with 17:46 remaining in the second as Lundell tipped in a shot by Aaron Ekblad. Had it not been for Lundell’s stick, Ekblad’s shot likely would have gone wide of the net.
The Panthers took a 2-1 lead with 12:56 left in the second as Verhaeghe spun around and knocked in a rebound off the right leg of Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson. Jeff Petry earned the primary assist as it was his shot from the point that started the sequence.
Florida wasted no time in extending its lead to 3-1 as the Panthers scored just 10 seconds into the third period. Marchand got the primary assist as his perfect pass connected with a charging Bennett, who tipped the puck to the short side of the net, past Forsberg. Bennett’s goal tied for the third-fastest to start any period this season.
Kirill Marchenko scored for Columbus seven seconds into a second period against Minnesota on Oct. 11; the Ducks’ Jackson Lacombe scored nine seconds into a second period against Vancouver on Nov. 26; and Edmonton star Connor McDavid scored 10 seconds into a third period against Buffalo on Dec. 9.
More to come on this story.
UP NEXT
The Kings visit Tampa Bay on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT.
