#CapsKings Postgame Notebook: Nine Seconds

Aside from nine seconds in the middle of the second period, the Caps played a pretty solid game on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of their season-long five-game homestand at Capital One Arena.

The Caps scored first, and they twice had one-goal leads, thanks to Evgeny Kuznetsov's seventh and eighth goals of the season. But Washington was unable to add to either of those advantages, and Los Angeles' fourth line put a whole different paint job on the game with two goals just nine seconds apart in the middle of the second. The Kings went on to a 5-2 victory.

Jonny Brodzinski took advantage of a Braden Holtby turnover to tie the game at 2-2 at 10:01 of the second. From the slot, Brodzinski tipped a Kurtis MacDermid shot past Holtby just after the Washington netminder's intended pass along the half wall went instead to MacDermid.

Nine seconds later, the Kings had the lead. Rookie Caps defenseman Madison Bowey was a bit overeager on the ensuing face-off, believing the Caps had or were about to have possession in the Los Angeles zone. Instead, a couple of quick passes sprung Jussi Jokinen - Bowey's man - on a breakaway, and the veteran Finnish winger finished with a flourish, beating Holtby through the five-hole to make it a 3-2 game.

To his credit, Bowey was sitting in his stall after the game, waiting to face the music.

"I think it was a little bit of anticipation there," says Bowey, "and the read wasn't the correct one at the right time of the game. That happens. But obviously I've got to get that out of my game, and it definitely did end up costing us the game here, and the two points. It's something that I have to put behind me, and tomorrow is a new day for sure."

Washington responded well after the Kings took the lead, but was never able to muster an equalizer against the extremely formidable Jonathan Quick, goaltender for the Kings. A couple of L.A. empty-netters in the final minute made what was essentially a one-goal game seem more lopsided, but this was a fun game to watch and a game in which the Caps could have earned a point or two.

Quick Strikes -The Kings' two goals in a span of nine seconds matches the fastest two goals scored by Los Angeles at any point in the last 17 years, this according to the good folks at Elias Sports Bureau.

Los Angeles got goals nine seconds apart from Alexei Ponikarovsky and Wayne Simmonds on Oct. 28, 2010 at Dallas, and the Kings also scored twice in nine seconds at Nashville on Dec. 22, 2016 with Nic Dowd and Jeff Carter supplying the lamplighters.

The Kings' two quick strikes against the Caps on Thursday are the second fastest pair of goals scored in the league this season. Earlier this week, Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa scored all three of his team's goals in a 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, and he scored his second and third goals just eight seconds apart.

Double Dipping - Kuznetsov scored both Washington goals, notching his second multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his NHL career.

Kuznetsov has eight multiple-point games this season. Over the last two seasons, only Nicklas Backstrom (25) has more multiple-point games for the Capitals than does Kuznetsov (24).

Heavyweights -With the likes of Backstrom and Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie, the Caps' lineup features quite a bit of proven NHL firepower. With the likes of Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty and Jake Muzzin, the Kings' lineup features a good number of players with a track record for defensive acumen.

Thursday's game turned into quite the clash of titans, as the two side punched and counter-punched in what was a very entertaining game to watch. Some of the guys playing in the game seemed to have as much fun as those of us who were watching.

"That was so much fun," exuded Doughty after the game. "I live for that stuff. I didn't come out with any points. I don't even know if I had a freaking shot on net. But we shut down that line; they didn't have much. I think when I was on the ice, Ovechkin maybe had one shot on net. I looked forward to that challenge, and I thought I did a pretty good job against that line, along with Muzz."

While the Backstrom line had its fair share of offensive zone time and scoring chances, it did not find its way onto the scoresheet. Backstrom and Ovechkin played just under 22 minutes, and Doughty played just under 27, while Muzzin was just under 23. Kopitar and Brown were both over 20 minutes on the night.

"They're such a good team," says Doughty of the Caps. 'They're a really good team and they're so hard to play against. I've never been so tired in my whole entire life. I felt like I spent the entire game playing in my own zone against the Ovechkin line. But it was a great battle. All four lines and all six [defensemen], and Quickie played great. It was just a full team effort, and that's why we won."

First Strike -The Caps have scored first in five of their last six games, and they've scored in the first period of each of their last six games.

By The Numbers -John Carlson led the Capitals with 26:36 in ice time and nine shot attempts … Matt Niskanen led the Caps with five shots on net … Brooks Oprik led the Capitals with four hits … Carlson, Niskanen and Devante Smith-Pelly led the Caps with two blocked shots each … Kuznetsov won six of 10 draws (60%) on the night.