Kuemper Shines, But Kings Offense Falls Flat in Home Opener

For one night, Darcy Kuemper looked like himself again.

The Kings goaltender has been in the headlines lately for reasons he would probably rather forget, but he was solid in his return to Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday. Kuemper stopped 26 of 28 shots, including several important chances late, but the Kings couldn’t give him much help at the other end. Florida beat Los Angeles 2-1 in the home opener, leaving the Kings winless through their first three games.

Alex Laferriere put the Kings in front with a minute left in the first, finishing off a play he helped create. He won a race to the puck after dumping it into the corner, and Erik Haula eventually came away with it behind the net. Haula wrapped around and fired from a sharp angle, with the rebound landing right at Laferriere’s stick near the far post. With the net wide open, he banked the easy money shot to make it 1-0. 

That lead could have grown early in the second. Florida took two penalties, giving Los Angeles 66 seconds of five-on-three and nearly five minutes of power-play time in all, but the Kings couldn’t convert.

Six seconds after the last penalty expired, Florida went the other way and tied the game. Seth Jones finished the rush, taking a pass from Lars Eller and using his skating to get around Artemi Panarin before driving to the net. His shot beat Kuemper at 3:49, wiping out what had been a promising stretch for the Kings.

The power play never really recovered from there. Los Angeles finished the night without a goal on five chances, while the penalty kill was perfect, going 6-for-6. It was one of the few areas where the Kings consistently came up with what they needed.

Florida was dealing with its own problems. Barkov and Ekblad were already out, and Brad Marchand left in the second period after getting hurt around the Kings’ crease. He had only just returned to the lineup Sunday following offseason surgery and did not come back after being helped off the ice.

The Panthers still managed to take the lead late in the third.

Clarke’s turnover in the neutral zone sent Florida into transition, and Sam Bennett found Tkachuk moving into space on the left side. Tkachuk snapped a shot through Kuemper with 8:40 remaining, giving the Panthers their first lead of the night.

Los Angeles had its chances after that, including a late push with Kuemper on the bench, but Markström kept the door shut.

There was no repeat of the offensive explosions from the Kings’ first two games. After putting up four goals in each of those losses, Los Angeles managed just 20 shots Tuesday and couldn’t turn an improved defensive effort into its first win of the season.

Kuemper gave them the performance they needed. The Kings just couldn’t find enough at the other end.