As the Lightning discovered in their first meeting against the Kings—a 2-1 loss in Tampa two weeks ago—chasing a deficit against Los Angeles is quite the challenge. The Kings own the second-best goals allowed per game average in the entire NHL. They know how to defend a lead.
In that first matchup, the Lightning opened the scoring with a first-period power-play goal but surrendered two second-period tallies to Adrian Kempe. The Kempe goals allowed the Kings to play with a lead the rest of the way, and the Lightning weren’t able to tie the game.
This contest started similarly. Once again, the Lightning got on the board with a first-period power-play goal. Brayden Point finished a nice passing sequence at the side of the net. The goal came 3:34 into the game.
As in the previous matchup, the Kings netted the next two goals. This time, the goals came shortly after the Lightning tally. A d-zone turnover led to Jeff Malott’s tying goal at 4:43. Then the Lightning took a penalty, and the Kings grabbed the lead with an Andrei Kuzmenko power-play goal at 6:14.
For the next 30-plus minutes, the Kings locked things down. There were not many scoring chances for either team. The Lightning’s best look came late in the first, when they had a three-on-one rush chance. But they couldn’t get the game tied.
Then, late in the second period, the Lightning tied the game on one of three ‘ugly’ goals that they’d score in the game. Point carried the puck behind the Kings net and slipped it to Darren Raddysh, who was also behind the net. Raddysh attempted a pass to one side, but the puck hit Mikey Anderson and caromed to Point on the other side. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, anticipating the puck coming out to his right, was out of position when Point stepped above the goalline to his left and stuffed the puck into an open net at 18:07.
Ideally, the Lightning would have played the final period evenly and avoided another deficit. Instead, they took an early penalty. The Kings converted on the power play for the second time. Off the rush, Corey Perry wired a cross-ice pass to Kevin Fiala, who finished a shot from the left circle at 1:37.
Time in the period seemed to wind down quickly as the Lightning struggled to sustain pressure. As the Kings had done during the third period in Tampa, they repeatedly cleared pucks safely from their own zone, forcing the Lightning to regroup.
It was late in the third and the Lightning were nearing a goalie pull when they netted their second straight ugly goal. From behind the LA net, Nikita Kucherov passed to Brandon Hagel in the low slot. Hagel was covered and couldn’t do much with the puck. But he forced it closer to the crease, where Anthony Cirelli was jostling with Brandt Clarke. Cirelli had the puck come to his backhand and, with Kuemper down on the ice, he roofed it into the top of the net to even the score at 16:41.
The Kings appeared to consider challenging the play for goalie interference (they even took their timeout to look more closely at the play), but they elected not to risk it. While there was some early contact between Cirelli and Kuemper in the crease, there was also pushing from Clarke on Cirelli (which would have resulted in a good goal). Also, by the time the puck came to Cirelli, he was out of the crease and not making contact with Kuemper.
So the goal went unchallenged, and the Kings avoided the possibility of a penalty kill if they got it wrong. But they gave up another goal anyway. With just under two minutes left, Gage Goncalves drove down the right wing and took the puck to the net. Kuemper made the save but couldn’t control the rebound. It bounced off a Kings defender behind the net, where Goncalves tracked it. Kuemper never moved to the opposite post, which is where Goncalves emerged. Similar to Point’s second-period goal, he stepped out from behind the goal line and put in a backhander at 18:19.
The Kings had trouble getting Keumper to the bench for an extra attacker because the Lightning had possession in the offensive zone. Once the Kings did get the extra attacker out on the ice, they failed to establish possession in the Lightning’s end. Instead, Raddysh cleared the puck down the ice. Although it missed the empty net, Kucherov was well ahead of the LA skaters. He negated the icing, grabbed the puck behind the net, and, just like Point and Goncalves, skated above the goal line and stuffed it into the net at 19:15.
Given how well the Kings can lock down games, the final few minutes unfolded in an unexpected way. But the Lightning did what was necessary to generate chances against the Kings. They forced pucks to dangerous areas and created some chaos. Twice it led to a tying goal and once to the game-winner.
The Lightning wrap up the road trip on Saturday in San Jose, looking for their seventh straight win.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Brayden Point — Lightning. Two goals.
- Gage Goncalves — Lightning. GWG.
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
