A shorthanded Los Angeles Kings (14-9-9) team fell to the Dallas Stars (22-7-5) on the road in the Lone Star State at the American Airlines Center in North Texas on Monday night (Dec. 15) by a score of 4-1. The Kings and head coach Jim Hiller were short centers Philip Danault and Quinton Byfield last night against the Stars on the road in Dallas.
Los Angeles Kings lose to the Dallas Stars after losing starting goalie Darcy Kuemper suffers an upper-body injury
Winger Andrei Kuzmenko got the Kings on the board first in this game in the opening frame in the first period. Kuzmenko scored on a weird play by the Stars' goalie where he took advantage of a mistake playing the puck in the crease and scored a goal for the Kings yesterday in the offensive zone.
It ultimately didn't matter much that the Kings opened up the scoring on the scoreboard yesterday. The Stars rattled off four straight goals in the game's final 30 minutes in the second and third periods yesterday. The Kings and Hiller continued to struggle offensively in this game vs. the Stars in Dallas.
It was another game where the Kings only scored one goal on the scoreboard vs. Dallas. This is also a big concern that the Kings lost starting goalie Darcy Kuemper to an upper-body injury after he was collided with in the crease late in the opening frame in the first period by Dallas.
Anton Forsberg took over in net for the Kings with four minutes left on the clock in the first period yesterday on the road. We were probably going to see Forsberg get at least one start for the Kings on the road trip for two games late this week. He stopped over a dozen shots from the Stars in the game yesterday in goal for the Kings.
Here are three takeaways from the Kings' 4-1 loss on the road in Dallas to the Stars at American Airlines Center in the Lone Star State on Dec. 15.
Kings can't take advantage of early momentum early in the middle frame vs. Dallas
On the power play on special teams, Kuzmenko has been the Kings' best goal scorer early this regular season. He leads the team with four goals on special teams on the power play this campaign.
"We had a couple other good looks on the five on four as well. So, you know, we shut them down. I mean, we had to make a couple good saves. They have an excellent power play, that was a story coming into the game. Only took two penalties and did a good job with that. You get one, you want to win the hockey game."Jim Hiller
Kuzmenko registered the game's first goal in the middle frame in the second period, taking advantage of the power play on special teams on a bad play with the puck by Stars goalie Casey DeSmith handling it around the goal. DeSmith essentially misplayed the puck, and Kuzmenko was able to push the puck in the net for the game's first goal on the scoreboard in the middle frame yesterday.
The Kings couldn't harness the momentum on the ice and on the scoreboard after leading halfway through the contest vs. Dallas. The Stars had over twice as many high and medium-danger scoring chances vs. the Kings yesterday in the game's final 30 minutes in the second and third periods on the road (per Natural Stat Trick).
No one stuck up for Darcy Kuemper
Late in the opening frame in the first period yesterday in Dallas, Stars' forward Mikko Rantanen collided with Kuemper in the crease before the puck went in the net for the Stars. The goal was disallowed after a review due to goalie interference, but no penalty was called on the play to Rantanen from Dallas.
This is really a costly injury for the Kings in goal early this regular season. Kuemper was holding this team together defensively, and it sometimes looked like he was one of the few players on the team interested in keeping this group alive in the standings in the Pacific Division.
It's arguable that Kuemper has been the Kings' best player early this regular season. He and star forward Adrian Kempe have helped the Kings team to win multiple games in the Pacific Division in the West this fall.
Different game, same storylines offensively scoring the puck
We saw a diminished Kings' team yesterday to start this three-game road trip in the East in Dallas come apart at the seams vs. the Stars on the ice. The Kings couldn't consistently control the puck in the offensive zone, which was exacerbated by the absences of centers Byfield and Danault for the team's top-nine forward lines group.
Yesterday's game was another case of the Kings leading or being tied on the scoreboard at the end of the second period in the middle frame and then unraveling in the final frame in the third period vs. Dallas. The Kings allowed three goals in a span of under eight minutes in the game's final period in the last frame to seal the win for the Stars.