LA Kings vs. Ducks: Three takeaways and standouts in 3-1 loss

What was once old is now new. The LA Kings continue to search for their identity after a frustrating loss.

For the first 21 years of their existence, the LA Kings primary colors were forum blue and gold. Starting in the 1988-89 season, the team did a complete uniform overhaul by changing the primary colors to black, silver, and white, and the main logo was now the “flying chevron.” On Tuesday night, forum blue and gold met the 90’s when the LA Kings debuted their new reverse retro uniforms – and they looked outstanding!

Onto the game itself. For the second consecutive game, Kings defenseman Kurtis MacDermid dropped the gloves three seconds into the game, this time battling his old roommate Nicholas Deslauriers to a standstill. After that, it was all Ducks, as one could wonder if, in the spirit of reverse retro, the Kings had left their legs at the Fabulous Forum.

The Kings hadn’t played a game in four days, and it showed. The team’s passing was, to put it kindly, awful, and the Ducks seemed to be a step ahead of them for the entire period. The shots were 15-4 at the end of the first period, and the LA Kings were quite frankly very lucky to be down only 1-0.

The second period didn’t start any better for the Kings. Veteran David Backes scored 17 seconds into the start of the period, and it began to feel like it was going to a long night for the forum blue and gold faithful. Then a bright spot occurred.

This was Arthur Kaliyev‘s first game in the NHL. At the 5:32 mark of the second period, he scored his first NHL goal by driving the net and banging home a loose puck. With that, the score was 2-1, and the Kings were right back in the game. Despite the “Arty Party,” they were still outshot by an 18-7 margin in the second period and went into the locker room down by a goal.

The third period would at least see the LA Kings put almost as many shots on goal as they did in the first periods, but the offense was dried up. An empty-net goal by the aforementioned Nicholas Deslauriers would seal the 3-1 Anaheim victory – despite an outstanding 40 save effort by Cal Petersen, who was clearly the Kings best player.

So what did we learn from this game?