3 takeaways from the LA Kings clutch preseason win over the Mammoth

The Los Angeles Kings faced the newly-renamed and rebranded Utah Mammoth for the first time this preseason in the first of two meetings between these two teams at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID, on Tuesday night (Sep. 30).

Taylor Ward's clutch third-period goal lifts the Los Angeles Kings past the Utah Mammoth in the preseason

Jeff Malott stayed red hot for the Kings' offense tonight scoring the puck. He fed Kings' forward Andrei Kuzmenko for the game's first goal in the middle of the first period for LA to break the tie on the scoreboard.

Just after the Kings had a key penalty kill with the special teams early in the second period, Malott sparked the LA offense again, feeding Andre Ward for the team's second goal tonight.

Almost as quickly as the Kings' killed the Mammoth power play early in the second period, Utah scored two quick goals to tie the game up on the scoreboard just a few minutes apart in the second frame.

The game remained knotted at two goals a side until forward Taylor Ward scored his third goal of the preseason for the Kings in clutch time in the third period. LA held onto the lead thanks to some clutch saves from Pheonix Copley in goal for the Kings.

Copley stopped over 20 shots on goal from the Mammoth tonight for his first quality start of the preseason this fall.

The Kings hung on through a barrage of late-third period shots and scoring chances from the Mammoth for the clutch one-goal win.

Here are three takeaways from the Kings' 3-2 win over the Mammoth at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, ID, on Sep. 30.

Jeff Malott and Taylor Ward lift the Kings' offense in the first and third periods

I feel like I've said this a lot this fall in training camp and the preseason for the Kings, but LA probably would not have won as many games as they have in the past week or so without the offensive production output in the past seven days from Malott and Ward.

Malott and Ward combined for three points, including one goal and two assists (the game-winning goal in the third period).

Coming into tonight's game against the Mammoth, Malott already had multiple goals, an assist, and one game-winning goal in the Kings' past three preseason games this fall. Malott registered two assists in as many periods to start tonight's game against the Mammoth to give the Kings the jumpstart the offense needed to get going on the ice and on the scoreboard.

It's nice for Kuzmenko to get his first points and initial goal of the preseason this fall to get the Kings on the board in the first period tonight.

Ward came in clutch for the Kings late in the third period with a nice wrister from a sharp angle in the faceoff circle to put LA ahead for the first time since early in the second period against Utah.

Jeff Malott strengthens his argument to make the opening night roster

Malott had already made a strong case to make the Kings' opening-night roster coming into tonight. Having multiple goals scored, including a game-winning goal, in the past few games in the preseason this fall for the Kings was already enough for Malott to turns heads for Hiller and the LA staff in the past week or so.

The fact that he had such a good jump in his stride on the ice tonight for the Kings only reinforced the point that he deserves strong consideration for a spot on the opening night roster. He was strong on the puck tonight, helping the Kings force a couple of turnovers and giving LA a multi-goal lead on the scoreboard in the game's first two periods vs. Utah.

Kings rebound from second-period sag

In the middle of the second period, the Mammoth held all the momentum in the offensive zone against the Kings and on the scoreboard about halfway through the game tonight. The Kings looked like they were in control of the pace of play on the ice for the game's first 20 or 30 minutes.

A couple of ill-timed penalties gave the Mammoth some timely momentum when it mattered in the middle of the game in the second period. The Kings defense and goaltending helped to bail out the team going into clutch time in the third period, leading to the game-winning goal from Ward tonight.

Copley was solid in net tonight for the Kings. Outside of that brief stretch of a few minutes in the second frame where the Kings let the Mammoth tie the game in the blink of an eye, Copley was a steady anchor in the crease in the defensive zone for LA.

In his first start this preseason in the fall, Copley stopped two dozen shots and proved that he can be a consistent and calm presence in net for the Kings as a depth goaltender for this upcoming season.