Another game where it felt like the Kings were in control against the Montreal Canadiens falls just short of their grasp.
The Los Angeles Kings (25-23-14) appeared to be in control early and for the entire game, but couldn’t close the door on the Canadiens, surrendering two quick third-period goals in a 4-3 loss on Saturday night.
Despite dominating the opening period, outshooting the visiting team 16-1, the Kings watched another game in which they held a late lead and let it slip away in the final minutes, as the Canadeins capitalized on the power play and a momentum shift to steal this game.
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Kings Control the First Period
Los Angeles came out flying in front of their home crowd, completely tilting the ice in the opening frame, peppering Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes with 16 shots while allowing just one.
The defensive pressure paid off in the opening frame captain Anze Kopitar opened the scoring. Kopitar finished a sequence set up by Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin at 5:48 of the first period to give the Kings the early 1-0 advantage.
Artemi Panarin helped drive the play throughout the period, consistently creating chances and keeping the Canadiens pinned to their zone.
Even with the overwhelming shot advantage, Los Angeles left the door open by scoring just once, something that would come back to haunt them later. It felt like the margin should’ve been bigger for Los Angeles heading into the second period, but Dobes did a good job limiting the Kings from extending the game to a 2-0 lead.
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The Kings thought they had a goal with Samuel Helenius, who thought he had scored to extend the lead to 2-0, but the call would stand as a goalie interference. LA decided not to challenge the call and move on to the next play.
Canadiens Push Back in the Second
Montreal found its footing in the second period and quickly erased the Kings’ lead.
Forward Jake Evans tied the game at 1-1, and Taylor Ward felt he was cross-checked into Kuemper, which affected the play. Los Angeles declared not to challenge again and continued to play after taking a timeout to talk things over.
The Canadiens then grabbed the lead at 4:19 of the period when Juraj Slafkovsky finished a play created by Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Carrier. Slafkovsky finished the night with two goals, one assist, and three points, one of the key contributors to the Candiens’ comeback win.
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Los Angeles answered shortly after. Newly acquired forward Scott Laughton tied the game 2-2 at 2:29 of the second period, burying a chance set up by rookie Jared Wright and defenseman Brandt Clarke.
Laughton was just the third skater in the last 15 years to record a goal in his first LA Kings game after being traded to the franchise (Sean Durzi on Nov. 24, 2021, and Carl Grundstrom on March 9, 2019). Overall, he is the 68th skater in team history to score in their team debut.
The teams headed into the final period tied 2-2, looking like it would end in a dogfight.
Laferriere Gives Kings the Lead
Los Angeles regained the lead early in the third off the faceoff win, Alex Laferriere capitalized on a rebound created by Clarke’s point shot.
At this point in the clutch, with LA outplaying the Candiens throughout the whole game and taking a 3-2 lead, it looked like this goal could help them escape with this win.
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Montreal Scores Twice in Under a Minute
Instead of holding on and playing clutch defense, Los Angeles once again folded in crunchtime.
After a penalty was called on the Kings, the Canadiens struck on their first power play goal of the game, with Slafkovsky scoring his second goal of the game to tie the game 3-3 for Montreal.
Just over a minute later, Nick Suzuki gave the Canadiens back their lead, who were also great tonight, finishing with one goal, two assists, and three points to help lead the comeback win for Montreal.
The comeback stunned the Kings and left them shell-shocked after having the game in their hands.
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Panarin, Kempe, and Kopitar continue to dominate in their line, showcasing elite offense, but once again, it wasn’t enough because of penalty kills, face-offs, and defensive breakdowns in the clutch.
If there is an underlying issue that the Kings are facing and the biggest recurring theme in their losses this season— and even in some of their wins — it’s these challenges closing out games when it gets close, we saw it happen in the playoffs last year when they had that meltdown, blowing the 2-0 series lead, it looks like the Kings haven’t gotten over that series loss yet.
Final Thoughts
And ultimately, it hasn’t changed because we’ve been seeing the same story all season long. When it looks like Los Angeles gets off to a big start, everyone already knows how it will end, losing the game in crunch time.
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Even with the Kings being the far better team tonight, outplaying the Canadiens, it still came down to the wire, where Los Angeles has shown no ability to win when it gets there.
Both the numbers on the statsheet and on-ice production showed that Los Angeles was the better team tonight, outshooting the visiting team 39-23 and controlling large stretches of the game, but defensive breakdowns and the costly third-period penalty proved decisive.
You have to give credit to the Canadiens for not giving up, and goaltender Dobes for turning aside 36 shots, and the forwards Suzuki and Slafkovsky for coming up big in the clutch to help make this comeback possible.
The loss will definitely sting because, under head coach DJ Smith, Los Angeles looks much better and more organized on ice, especially in terms of effort. But tonight, a brief lapse late in the third period erased all the effort they put in for 60 minutes.
Instead of walking away with a statement win, Los Angeles has to leave with yet another result that has been ailing them all season long.
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The Kings’ next match will be on Monday, March 9, at 4:00 PM EST, where they will begin their five-game road trip against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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