The Kings four-game winning streak came to an end on Monday night when they fell 2-1 to the Seattle Kraken. Entering the night fresh off of clinching their fourth consecutive playoff berth and an emotional victory over the Edmonton Oilers their last time out, the Kings intensity wasn’t where it normally has been this season. Also without two of their top defensemen in Drew Doughty and Joel Edmundson, who both missed the game due to injury (both deemed day-to-day), the Kings failed to extend their lead in the standings over the Oilers who also lost in Anaheim tonight.
The Kings started the game strong by netting what was eventually their only goal of the game 1:48 in. Playing in place of one of the two injured blueliners, Kyle Burroughs released a shot on route to the net with a tied up Quinton Byfield creating traffic in front of the Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord. With one arm held behind his back and one hand on his stick, Byfield deflected the Burroughs shot down, spun and knocked the puck into the net with one hand all in one motion for his 20th goal of the season. The highlight reel goal put the Kings up 1-0, giving them a lead they’d hold onto until late in the period. The Kraken evened the score with 1:25 to go in the opening period when Matty Beniers banged in a rebound for his 19th tally of the season. Beniers took advantage of an overly aggressive Darcy Kuemper, who lost his net on the original shot and won the loose puck battle in the crease to knot the game at 1-1. Just over 30 seconds later, each team was given a coincidental minor penalty for partaking in some extracurricular activities post-whistle and the game went to 4-on-4 for two minutes. It was then that the Kraken netted the eventual game-winning goal. Coming just 20 seconds into the 4-on-4 session, a 3-on-2 zone entry for the Kraken resulted in an open shot for Brandon Montour and he did not miss. Beating Kuemper with a perfectly placed wrist shot on the glove side, Montour pocketed his 17th goal of the season to give the Kraken a lead they would not surrender.
The Kings threw plenty of pucks at the Kraken net, but not every one of those shots got through. Having tallied 29 shots on the Seattle goal, the Kraken also blocked 30 shots on the night, limiting the potential chaos in front of Daccord.
Kuemper stopped 26 of 28 shots, including making a potential save of the year with his stick on Jaden Schwartz to keep the game at 2-1 in the second period. While not good enough for the win on this night, the respectable performance extended his streak of allowing two goals or less to 14 consecutive games.
