The LA Kings once again went into overtime but once again came up short, as they skated to a 2-1 overtime defeat on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
Midway through the opening period, forward Adrian Kempe extended his point streak to four games as he opened the scoring. Forward Alex Laferriere was evasive along the wall, as he protected the puck and threaded a pass through the slot to Kempe. From the right-hand circle, Kempe shot first time, past Calgary goaltender Dustin Wolf and in for his 11th goal of the season, tying him with Kevin Fiala for the team lead.
With the Kings on their first power play of the evening, Calgary went the other way and tied the game with a shorthanded goal. Kevin Fiala’s pass was intercepted at the blue line by forward Blake Coleman, who went the other way on a breakaway. In alone, he beat Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper on the glove side for his ninth goal of the season, knotting the score at one apiece.
After the third period came and went without a goal, the Kings thought they had the game-winning tally in overtime. Forward Anze Kopitar got on the end of an Adrian Kempe pass, but the puck was directed into the net with a kicking motion and was overturned upon video review. Just seconds later, Calgary capitalized on a 3-on-1 rush to win the game 2-1. Defenseman Brandt Clarke turned the puck over in the offensive zone, leading to the odd-man attack the other way, with forward Morgan Frost scoring at the back post to seal the two points.
Hear from Kopitar, defenseman Brian Dumoulin and Head Coach Jim Hiller after tonight’s game.
