Cam Talbot made 24 saves in his return to Ottawa as the Kings improved their road record to 5-0.
After five days off, filled with turmoil, the Ottawa Senators lost for the fourth time in five games, dropping a 3-2 decision to the LA Kings Thursday night. Adrian Kempe led the Kings with two assists, helping former Senator goalie Cam Talbot win in his first game back in Ottawa.
To make matters worse, the Senators lost two more players to injury. Ridly Greig and Mark Kastelic left the game with lower body injuries.
"It was clear that they couldn't return. It looks very doubtful for these next few games for both of them," head coach D.J. Smith told the media after the game.
The Senators have had problems starting games on the right foot, despite the stellar play of Joonas Korpisalo who was facing the team he played for last season. Korpisalo stopped 35 of 38 shots on the night, but the Senators fell behind 3-0 and were never able to come back.
Sens defenceman Jakob Chychrun played almost 30 minutes in the game.
“Whenever you are down three, you find yourself in a hole," Chychrun said. "It’s tough to come back from those deficits. We've just got to find ways to not put ourselves in that situation as often as we have been."
After LA went up by three, they clogged up the neutral zone effectively, making it difficult for the Senators to generate much of anything. Dominik Kubalik and Josh Norris finally broke through for the Senators to make it close.
Drake Batherson had some amazing chances early on for Ottawa, firing one off the crossbar and then being robbed of a goal on a last second poke check when he had a wide open net to shoot at.
By the numbers: The Senators under DJ Smith are 32nd in the NHL in goals for per 60 minutes when they have their goalie pulled, ranking them dead last since 2019/2020. The Senators have already lost three one-goal games, discounting empty netters. Under Smith, the club has never finished above 27th in the league after the 20 game mark. A big part of the Sens' rough start last year was their inability to win close games. They started the season with 10 straight one-goal losses, excluding empty net goals.
The Senators look to bounce back against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday at 7pm.