3 takeaways from the LA Kings overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators
In one of the wilder games in recent memory, the Los Angeles Kings would come up short against the Ottawa Senators in overtime by a final score of 8-7. The Kings would get out to an early lead in this game and be up 2-1 after one period.
The second period was when scoring really picked up as the two teams combined for seven goals and after two the game was tied at five. The scoring slowed down some in the third period with each team scoring two goals and remained tied after regulation.
However, the Kings would suffer their second straight overtime loss as Josh Norris scored less than a minute into overtime. These are some of the top takeaways from today's game for the Los Angeles Kings.
Darcy Kuemper struggles for the first time this season
Through the first two games, Darcy Kuemper has been exceptional in net as he allowed only two goals this season. However, this game against the Senators was a completely different story as he seemed slow to react and couldn't get in position.
Last season, Kuemper only played 33 games and the fact he has now played three games in five days could have contributed to the disappointing performance. The Kings probably should have had David Rittich in net for this game but almost certainly should Wednesday against Toronto.
Power play was great for the Los Angeles Kings but the penalty kill was not
Through the first two games, the Los Angeles Kings were really strong when the opposing team had a man advantage. The Sabres and Bruins combined to go 0-for-10 when they had the power play but the Senators had no issue in this game as they scored four goals on power play opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Kings were equally as good as the Senators when they had the man advantage as they scored three goals on five opportunities. Kevin Fiala would get the scoring started with a power play goal in the first period and added another power play goal in the second period while Adrian Kempe had a power play goal of his own.
Another notable performance from the power play unit was Brandt Clarke and Anze Kopitar as they would have assists on all three goals. It was great to see the power play unit play as well as it did but the penalty kill unit has to be a concern if this trend continues.
Not all overtime losses are the same for the Los Angeles Kings
Yes, the Los Angeles Kings were able to secure a point, similar to what they did in Boston, but not all overtime losses are the same. In the game against the Bruins, the Kings were playing much better and were almost pushing Boston.
However, in this game it seemed like the Kings came out flat and the Senators controlled much of the first period. The Kings were fortunate to have a 2-1 lead after one and came out much better in the second as they built a two-goal lead and then had another two-goal lead later in the period when it was 4-2.
In both instances, they let the Senators get back into it and would blow another one-goal lead in the third period. This was a game the Kings absolutely could have (and should have) won and came away with two points.
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