The Los Angeles Kings concluded December with a three-game homestand, including back-to-back home games before the NHL’s holiday break. On Dec. 22, they faced the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first time this season and then played the next night on Dec. 23 against the Seattle Kraken (for the second time this season).
Los Angeles Kings went into the holiday break with momentum thanks to goal scoring from Joel Armia and Alex Laferriere
Action resumed on Dec. 27 for the second edition of this season’s Freeway Faceoff against the Anaheim Ducks, which was the final home game of 2025. The Kings then concluded 2025 with a quick road game against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 29.
On Dec. 22, the scoring opened up in favor of the Blue Jackets when Mason Marchment, in only his second game after a trade, scored a power play goal. Later in the same period, Marchment scored his second power play goal of the night, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-0 lead. The Kings got on the board with a goal from Andrei Kuzmenko late in the second period.
This would be the only goal for the Kings. The Blue Jackets continued to roll in the third period when Kirill Marchenko scored a power play goal, which gave the Blue Jackets a 3-1 victory.
The homestand continued the following night on Dec. 23 before the holiday break. There were no goals on either side during the first period. The scoring opened up in favor of the Kraken, with Jordan Eberle scoring a power play goal a little over one minute into the second period. The Kraken continued to roll in the same period when Frederick Gaudreau scored and gave the Kraken a 2-0 lead. Later in the same period, Ben Meyers scored, putting the Kings in a 3-0 deficit.
The Kings finally got on the board when Kevin Fiala scored, giving him his team-tying 13th goal of the season. In the third period, the only goal was scored by Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko, making the score 3-2. Unfortunately for the Kings, that is how the game ended, continuing their home ice struggles. Hopefully, they could turn it around after the holiday break.
After the break, the Kings played the Anaheim Ducks in the second Freeway Faceoff of this season on Dec. 27. This game was also the last home game of 2025. The Kings were first to score, when defenseman Drew Doughty got his third goal of the season three minutes into the first period. The Kings stayed hot and scored three more goals in the same period. Scoring continued in favor of the Kings when Trevor Moore scored first making it 2-0.
Then forward Alex Laferriere made it 3-0. Near the end of the period, Quinton Byfield netted a power play goal, ending the period with the Kings up 4-0. The second period started off slowly for the Kings. The Ducks got on the board when Mason McTavish scored a power play goal, leaving the Ducks in a 4-1 deficit.
There was no more scoring in that period. In the third period, history was made when forward Alex Laferriere got his first career NHL hat trick. Four and a half minutes into the third period, Laferriere scored his second goal of the night on a breakaway, thanks to a beautiful assist by Brian Dumoulin. Then, with seven minutes remaining, Laferriere scored his third goal of the night on a slapshot with an assist from defensemen Brandt Clarke. The hat trick gave Laferriere his 10th goal of the season and topped off a 6-1 victory for the Kings.
The Kings wrapped up 2025 with a quick road game against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 29. The Avalanche started out hot in the first period when forward Jack Drury scored his sixth goal of the season. That was the only goal, leaving the Kings in a 1-0 deficit. The Kings tied the game early in the second period thanks to a power play goal by Corey Perry. In the same period, the Avalanche heated up when forwards Martin Necas and Brock Nelson both scored, leaving the Kings down 3-1 after two periods.
The third period gave some life to the Kings after forward Joel Armia scored a shorthanded goal, making the score 3-2. The shorthanded goal was the Kings 7th of this season, giving them the league lead in an important category. With about two and a half minutes left in the same period, Kings head coach Jim Hiller made the decision to pull goaltender Anton Forsberg.
This move backfired when Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon scored an empty-net goal. That goal gave him his league-leading 32nd of the season. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar scored, making it a 5-2 loss for the Kings.
The Kings will try to start fresh in 2026 with a four-game homestand. The first matchup is on New Year’s Day against the Tampa Bay Lightning, followed by games against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 3 and 5. The final game of the homestand will be against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 7.