The Los Angeles Kings (23-17-14) got a point in the standings in the West on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 1) by pushing the game into extra time in overtime late this weekend in the back end of back-to-back games vs. the Carolina Hurricanes (34-15-6) on the road in the East at the Lenovo Center, but came up just short of finishing out this road stretch with another victory.
Anton Forsberg helps the Los Angeles Kings get one point in the standings in an overtime loss vs. the Carolina Hurricanes
Sebastian Aho scored the game-winning overtime goal for the Hurricanes in extra time in overtime this afternoon.
Jim Hiller and the Kings had a late rally in the final frame in the third period this afternoon on the road in Carolina vs. the Hurricanes and head coach Rod Brind'Amour on Sunday. The Kings did their best to give the Hurricanes everything they could handle, and it almost got LA two points in the standings in the West in the Pacific Division late this weekend on Sunday.
The Kings were really scrappy and physical, overcoming adversity from being down 2-0 on the scoreboard and losing top defenseman Mikey Anderson due to an injury in the opening frame in the first period.
Flipping the script of the game offensively compared to the front end of back-to-back games this weekend on the East Coast, the Kings fought back and pushed back from down 2-0 on the scoreboard in the final frame in the third period in clutch time.
Sammy Helenius kicked off the Kings' comeback efforts in the final frame in the third period this afternoon, cutting the Canes' lead on the scoreboard in half, 2-1. Then, Quinton Byfield tied the game on the scoreboard for the Kings on a nice play made by forward Adrian Kempe in the zone offensively.
The loss to the Canes today on the road on the East Coast moves the Kings' record on this season-long road trip to a solid 3-1-1, good for seven points in the standings in the West in just five games played this past couple of weeks for the team.
Here are three takeaways from the Kings' gritty overtime loss, by a score of 3-2, vs. the Hurricanes on the road in the East road trip finale on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh on Feb. 1.
Anton Forsberg keeps the Kings in the game in the final frame in the third period
What held the Kings in this game on both ends of the ice this afternoon on Sunday vs. the Canes in Carolina was the play of Anton Forsberg in the nets for the team defensively. He stopped a whopping 30 out of 31 scoring chances and over a dozen high-danger scoring chances defensively for the Kings in between the pipes in the second and third periods in the final two frames today (per Natural Stat Trick).
"He’s been good now for, I don’t know, you’d have to go back a long time to say yeah, maybe Forsy didn’t have a good night tonight. That would be a long time ago, I can’t remember when that was, so he’s just continued to play extremely well. You need it, especially at the tail end of a road trip. You need somebody to really step up, whether that’s a player or the goaltender, and we got that out of him."Jim Hiller on Anton Forsberg
The Kings and Hiller were outshot by a margin of 34-13 on the stat sheet. But Forsberg kept the Kings alive late in this game to give the team a chance to come back on the scoreboard in the final frame in the third period.
When the Kings were on the ropes in the middle frame in the second period, Forsberg kept a potent Canes' active forward core group lines scoreless on the stat sheet. He faced double-digit medium and high-danger scoring chances from the Hurricanes in the zone defensively in the middle frame in the second period.
Quinton Byfield heating up
The two players responsible for the Kings coming all the way back on the scoreboard in Carolina in the final frame in clutch time in the third period this afternoon were Helenius and Byfield in the zone. Helenius and Byfield scored a couple of clutch goals for the Kings just under five minutes apart on the scoreboard in the final frame today in Carolina.
Center captain Anze Kopitar gave some kind remarks to Byfield for the Kings offensively after the game yesterday in the win over the Philadelphia Flyers in extra time in overtime.
"He's been a big piece for OT, and you saw the shot, he took it, and it went in so good for us."Anze Kopitar on Quinton Byfield
Byfield registered at least one goal offensively for Hiller and the Kings in the zone in the last two games in these back-to-back games in the East in the Metro this weekend for LA.
The Kings had a ton of momentum offensively after Byfield tied the game up on the scoreboard for the team in the final frame in clutch time in the third period.
East road trip is largely a success for Jim Hiller and the Kings
While it's never a great result for Hiller and the Kings to come away with anything less than two points in the standings in the West in the Pacific Division this regular season this month in early February, I don't have many bad things to say about the team's effort in clutch time in the final frame in the third period.
The Kings coming away with seven out of a possible 10 points on this road trip in the East, including three wins in this last five games in this past two weeks, is something the team deserves a lot of credit and remarks for in the West.
"I would think that’s a good trip. Obviously, we would like to probably get one more win at least, but that’s a decent trip, for sure. We set out before the trip, we had meetings about having a good trip and I thought we did. We did have a good trip. Obviously, it could have been better, but we’ll take it."Drew Doughty
There is a lot to feel good about for the Kings' effort offensively this past couple of weeks in the West going into the team's final two games in the Pacific Division before the Olympic break this month in February vs. the Seattle Kraken on Feb. 4.