LA Kings: Top ten best moments of the 2021 Kings season
By Ryan Sikes
4. Matt Luff’s late second-period goal ties game with Blues
Matt Luff recorded just one point in 13 games this season, but the team earned at least a point in nine of those games. He probably deserved a longer look, but that’s a discussion for another day. With the Kings trailing by a goal to the St. Louis Blues back on March 6, Anze Kopitar scanned the ice behind the Blues net.
Luff circled, was fed the puck in the slot, and fired it home with 10.4 seconds remaining in the second period. The Kings would go onto win the game 4-3 in overtime, with Luff’s goal heading into the second intermission giving the team a huge momentum boost.
5. Kempe tallies hat trick against Ducks
Two days later, in what was one of the strangest games of the season, Adrian Kempe scored a goal each period, but the Ducks won the game in overtime. Two of the Swedish forward’s goals tied the game, with the final goal coming with just over two and a half minutes left in regulation. That game was part of a three-game stretch in which Kempe tallied six goals in three contests.
6. Kings dominate Golden Knights in Monday night showdown
The Kings and Golden Knights have developed an intense rivalry in such a short amount of time. Vegas is at one end of the spectrum being, obviously, a very good team, while Los Angeles continues to stick with the rebuild. The Kings went 2-6 against Vegas this season, but perhaps no win was better than that on March 21.
Considering the Kings were coming off a 4-2 loss just two days earlier in what felt like the norm against Vegas, Los Angeles utterly dominated the Golden Knights, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second period with goals from Sean Walker and Dustin Brown. Tomas Nosek made it interesting in the third, but Jeff Carter slammed the door with a decisive goal less than a minute later. Despite allowing 42 shots on goal, the Kings were in control the entire game.
It felt like a game that the Kings could use to springboard off to gain some momentum, but that never happened as they would go onto lose their next three.