LA Kings: Three takeaways from Tuesday’s loss to the Avalanche

Three games into the 2021 season, the LA Kings are still searching for their first win.

After letting a pair of winnable games slip away from them against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday, it was the Kings who were attempting a third-period comeback. Still, they came up short in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Though the score ended up being close, this game still served as a reminder of how far LA has to go until they’re at the level of a true contender like the Avalanche.

Here are three other takeaways from Tuesday’s loss at Staples Center.

Takeaway #1: Andersson looks solid in debut

Ok, let’s at least mix in some positivity.

Todd McLellan made some changes to the lineup for this game, inserting Lias Andersson and Carl Grundstrom to make their season debuts on a line with Trevor Moore. The trio seemed to have instant chemistry. While it was ostensibly LA’s fourth line, it had some of the team’s best shifts on the night.

While the Kings had a pretty quiet offseason, Andersson was a fascinating addition back in October. 22-year-olds just three years removed from being a top-seven draft pick aren’t available very often. Andersson’s tenure with the New York Rangers was disastrous on many levels, but at times on Tuesday, he reminded you why he was a highly-touted prospect not too long ago.

Andersson ended up playing only 8:56 on the night. Given the way the rest of the team was playing, it would have been nice to see him get a little more rope. We’ll see what [Todd] McLellan has planned for him going forward.