The Los Angeles Kings (35-27-20) wrapped up the regular season with their final three games on the road.
Los Angeles Kings and Anze Kopitar are headed this spring to the postseason in the playoffs for the last five consecutive years in the West
Their road trip began on the front end of a back-to-back with their final game against the Kraken on April 13. Quinton Byfield started the scoring for the Kings less than three minutes into the game with his 21st goal of the season. The Kings held on to the 1-0 lead for most of the period until Byfield scored his second goal of the night, giving the Kings a 2-0 lead after one.
The second period was a defensive battle for both teams until Trevor Moore scored his 13th goal of the season. The Kings held on to a 3-0 lead at the end of the period. The Kraken then got on the board about two minutes into the third period when Adam Larsson scored his seventh goal of the season. Ten minutes later, the Kraken got within one when Frederick Gaudreau scored his 7th goal of the season.
About two and a half minutes later, the Kings went up by two goals again when Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 35th goal of the season. The Kraken answered when Bobby McMann scored his 29th goal of the season late in the same period, with about two and a half minutes left in the game. The Kraken then pulled their goalie, but the Kings sealed a victory when Alex Laferriere scored an empty-netter, his career high 20th goal of the season, during the final seconds of the game. The victory earned the Kings their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup playoff appearance.
The Kings then flew to Vancouver for their game against the Canucks. The Canucks struck first nine minutes in when defenseman Elias Pettersson (not to be confused with the forward of the same name) scored his third goal of the season. The Kings then got on the board late in the period when Quinton Byfield scored his 23rd goal of the season.
Ending the period in a 1-1 tie. Vancouver started the second period on a power play and went up 2-1 when Jake DeBrusk scored his 22nd goal just 52 seconds in. Less than a minute later, the Kings tied things up at two-all when Adrian Kempe scored his team-leading 36th goal of the season. A little over a minute later, the Kings got their first lead of the night when Alex Laferriere scored his 21st goal of the season, extending his career-high total.
About halfway through the period, the Canucks tied things up at three-all when Zeev Buium scored his 6th goal of the season. Regulation ended in a 3-3 tie, forcing another overtime session with the Kings extending their NHL record to 33 overtime games in a single season. The Canucks eventually won in overtime, almost three minutes in, with DeBrusk scoring the game-winner, which was also his second of the night. This earned the Kings a crucial point in seeding for the playoffs.
The Kings wrapped up the regular season with their final road game in Calgary, which would determine their seeding for the first round of the playoffs. This was also Anze Kopitar’s last regular season game for the Kings. His family was in attendance, making it an emotional night for him and the team. The first period ended without a score, with both teams clogging the neutral zone. The Flames struck first about five and a half minutes into the second period when Morgan Frost scored his 22nd goal, on the power play.
The Kings tied things up at one-all over a minute later when Quinton Byfield scored his 24th goal of the season. Unfortunately, this would be the Kings' lone goal of the game. The score remained tied at one-all until Calgary defenseman Zayne Parekh scored his 4th goal of the season about six minutes into the third period.
The Kings pulled their goalie with less than three minutes to play, but the strategy backfired when Joel Farabee scored an empty-netter, his 20th of the season, sealing a 3-1 victory for the Flames. The regulation loss sealed the second wild card spot for the Kings, leaving them to play the Colorado Avalanche for the first round, starting on Apr. 19.
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