Jim Hiller and the Los Angeles Kings (6-5-4) rounded out the four-game homestand at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night (Nov. 6) with a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, despite leading the game on the scoreboard in the first period late.
Corey Perry and the Los Angeles Kings drop three out of four games in a key four-game homestand in the finale vs. Florida
While the Panthers are the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, this is not really the same Florida group that won the title in the past two seasons. The Panthers and head coach Paul Maurice have a ton of key injuries, including to captain Aleksander Barkov and standout forward Matthew Tkachuk.
In the game's first period, this looked like a very winnable game for the Kings. LA more than doubled Florida's scoring chances and had more shots on goal in the game's first period for the Kings.
The Kings once led this game on the scoreboard 2-1 late in the opening frame in the first period. But the Panthers came roaring back and seized momentum in the middle frame in the second period last night. Florida scored four straight goals, including a late-third period goal in clutch time to seal the three-goal win over the Kings yesterday night.
Sergei Bobrovsky was solid in net for the Panthers, stopping over 90 percent of the shots he faced from the Kings last night on home ice. Anton Forsberg allowed five goals on 24 shots on goal last night.
Here are three takeaways from the Kings' 5-2 loss to the Panthers at home at Crypto Arena in the finale of the four-game homestand on Nov. 6.
The power play is still broken
Hiller and the Kings' coaching staff made some adjustments to the top power play unit on special teams earlier this past week, moving Perry up to the top group with the five forwards this fall. Perry has helped to create more chances, and the Kings have scored power play goals in two straight games in the middle of this week for LA.
The Kings need to take advantage of more of these opportunities when guys like Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar get chances on the power play to get multiple goals and to take control of games on the scoreboard in the first and second periods on home ice.
While the Kings did score a goal on the power play on special teams early in the game in the opening frame yesterday night, there were some missed opportunities for LA's power play top unit last night.
Not only did the Kings not take advantage of three special teams opportunities on the power play yesterday, but also LA gave up a shorthanded goal that was effectively the insurance marker for the Panthers in the third period.
No team in the league in the NHL has allowed over three shorthanded goals on special teams early this regular season. The Kings are the only team that has allowed four shorthanded goals this season in the NHL.
Corey Perry making a bigger impact than anyone could've expected
This was a pretty crazy game for Perry last night for the Kings, especially early in the game in the first period. Perry not only scored one of the Kings' two goals in the opening frame last night, but he also was scrappy, getting into a fight later in the game against Florida.
Perry is tied with Kempe and Kevin Fiala for the most goals for the Kings early this regular season, with a half-dozen for each LA forward this fall. He's scored points in two straight games for the Kings, and has at least one point in four of the past five contests for LA in the past couple of weeks.
In just nine games played for the Kings early this regular season, Perry is on a point-per-game pace for LA, and he's scored six goals. He's already got one power play goal and multiple key points in the second and third periods for the Kings this fall.
Third periods becoming the Kings' Achilles heel at home
It's getting difficult to expect too much stability and consistency in success in the win column in the standings for the Kings early this regular season, especially on home ice where LA has only one win this fall at Crypto Arena.
The Kings needed more offense and better goaltending from Forsberg in net against the Panthers last night. It wasn't that the Kings were completely outplayed on either end of the ice last night vs. Florida. The Panthers did a better job capitalizing on the chances they had in the offensive zone vs. the Kings.
"It’s always a tight game, but we had opportunities. They were able to finish. We did not finish. But what I would say is we were around their net a fair amount. Perry scored a breakaway goal tonight. But if you want to score goals, you’ve got to go to the front of the net. And if you haven’t scored enough, I would argue it’s because you haven’t been there enough."Jim Hiller
For the past few games in the West, the Kings have looked like the better team on the ice in the game's first 40 minutes in the first and second periods.
In the Kings' past two losses at home, LA has been outscored by a margin of 5-0 in the final frame in the third period. LA definitely outplayed the New Jersey Devils in a three-goal loss on home ice against the East this past weekend on Saturday night (Nov. 1).
I'd like to see more out of key Kings' forward players like Kempe, Kopitar, and Andrei Kuzmenko in the third period on home ice.