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The Los Angeles Kings have placed goaltender Cal Petersen on waivers.
Petersen is 28 years old and is in the first season of a three-year contract, which carries a $5 million cap hit. In 10 games this season, Petersen posted a brutal .868 save percentage.
New: Reports: Petersen placed on waivers + Kings cancel today’s on-ice practice https://t.co/Or0yg0WRK9
— LA Kings Insider (@lakingsinsider) November 30, 2022
Against Seattle, it was essentially a wild back-and-forth for the first half of the game, where Seattle would pull ahead and Los Angeles kept tying it, landing at 5-5 just seven minutes into the second period. Petersen came in for Jonathan Quick at that point, but two quick goals then put Seattle ahead 7-5 at the midway mark of the game, with the teams exchanging goals once again after before the end of the second period. The Kings still managed to tie it back up again with two goals in the back half of the third period, but a power play goal from Andre Burakovsky in overtime gave Seattle the win.
It marks the Kings’ second overtime loss in a row, after they fell 3-2 against the Ottawa Senators at home on Sunday. They had previously beaten the San Jose Sharks 5-2 earlier in the weekend on Friday night, with that win being their only victory across their last six games.
I don’t know how many of the five goals on Jonathan Quick from last night I’d really chalk up to poor goaltending as much as defensive lapses. Quick obviously wasn’t doing much in the way of providing saves but none of the five were necessarily bad goals.
On Petersen though, the first goal was nothing short of disastrous, then he was beaten cleanly on the next three goals.
While Los Angeles’ goaltending has been terrible so far, the Kings’ defense has been a major issue as well, with the frustrating part being the inconsistency. The Kings had put together some really good defensive efforts earlier in the month, and we know they’re capable of doing so. From defensive lapses to just outright losing important battles though, Los Angeles’ blue line has been a mess throughout most of the season, despite actually being healthy so far this year.
Still though, not too long ago, Petersen was being looked at as the team’s future in net. Now, it’s questionable as to whether he even has an NHL future. Given his contract, it seems unlikely he’ll get claimed and if someone did pick him up, it would only free up cap space for the Kings to make a move.
It’ll be interesting to see where the Kings go from here. They could call up Pheonix Copley, who’s posted decent numbers in the AHL this season, or instead look for a trade. Either way, Petersen wasn’t getting the job done and whatever the short-term solution is, it probably can’t get much worse for the Kings in net.
Los Angeles will be back in action tomorrow, when they face the Arizona Coyotes.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
Kings drop back down to .500 following 5-2 loss to Stars Kings come up short against Blackhawks, lose in overtime Kings kick off four-game homestand with win over Panthers Kings shut out Wild with strong defensive effort Kings beat Blackhawks in overtime for third straight win Kings sweep four-game homestand with win over Red Wings Kings come up short in first game of road trip, lose 6-5 to Flames Kings fall to Canucks following win over Oilers as road trip continues Kings end road trip with overtime loss to Kraken Kings fall short against Rangers for third loss in a row