"(He was) really solid," Kings coach John Stevens said. "I thought he was a calming force for us back there. Anytime there was maybe a little chaos about to start, he held on to pucks, get face-offs, get reorganized. He just looked like he was really solid and comfortable in the net, and I think he gave us a lot of confidence by him playing that way."
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Nicholas Shore, Jonny Brodzinski and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings (30-19-5), who have won three games in a row and five of six. Defenseman Derek Forbort had three assists.
The Kings, who are in second place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks and Calgary Flames, opened a season-long seven-game road trip that continues Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"It's a big trip for us," Shore said. "It was important that we didn't look past tonight. This is the first game of the trip and it's always way better when you start off with a win."
Aaron Ekblad scored for the Panthers (23-23-6), who were trying to match their season-high five-game winning streak and are eight points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Harri Sateri made 23 saves in his fifth consecutive start.
"We won four of the last five, so I think we're heading in the right direction, we just can't have these slip-ups," Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck said. "Great teams don't slip up, they play consistently, and that's what we need to do right now."