The LA Kings found themselves in a familiar position, as they battled back to force the game into overtime, though they once again came up on the wrong side of a one-goal game, a 4-3 defeat against the Utah Mammoth on Sunday evening at Delta Center.
Utah opened the scoring just over seven minutes into the game. Kings forward Samuel Helenius had a chance to clear the zone but turned the puck over deep in his own end, with Mammoth defenseman John Marino taking control. Marino fed forward Lawson Crouse in the slot and the Utah winger buried from close range, past Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper, for his 18th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The Kings answered back almost immediately, capitalizing on a 3-on-1 rush to tie the game at one. Forward Quinton Byfield intercepted a loose puck in his own zone and quickly turned it around the other way, as he fed forward Alex Laferriere through the neutral zone for the odd-man attack. Laferriere kept it himself, worked his way into the right-hand circle and scored on Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka to level the score 1-1.
Just shy of the halfway mark of the opening frame, the Mammoth moved back in front as Crouse buried his second goal of the game. After some helter skelter action, with several changes of possession, Utah gained control in the offensive zone. Forward Alexander Kerfoot threaded a pass to Crouse at the back post, where he beat Kuemper for the second time, pulling the hosts ahead 2-1.
Once again, Los Angeles answered almost immediately, tying the game at two inside the game’s opening 10 minutes. Defenseman Brandt Clarke weaved his way through the neutral zone and got a shot on net from the outside, which created a rebound. Vejmelka tried to clear the puck with a poke check, but Byfield intercepted and quickly shot into the back of the net for his 15th goal of the season and a 2-2 score.
The Mammoth scored the only goal in the second period, capitalizing on another Kings individual breakdown, to pull ahead 3-2. After a Kuemper save, defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci both hesitated to clear the puck, allowing Utah forward Nick Schmaltz to aggressively intercept, drive the net and bury his 25th goal of the season, giving the hosts a one-goal lead at the second intermission.
Los Angeles came back in the third period to force overtime as forward Artemi Panarin came through again with a clutch goal in the third period. Panarin weaved his way into the offensive end, onto his forehand and although his shot came from a sharp angle, it found its way through Vejmelka for the game-tying goal, extending his point streak to six games in the process.
Overtime was a similar story, however, as the Kings controlled the puck for nearly the entire frame, before a bounce off the linesman sent Utah the other way, with forward Nick Schmaltz burying the game-winning goal to earn his team the second point.
Hear from Byfield, forward Scott Laughton and Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith.
