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The Los Angeles Kings earned their second home win of the season last night, hanging on for a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Kings > Cats 🱠pic.twitter.com/y4bi6G7ZxF
— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 17, 2023
The Kings struck only about a minute into the game, when Fiala took a pass from Danault on a 2-on-1, before going to the backhand to beat Sergei Bobrovsky to open the scoring. It was a good start for the Kings, outshooting Florida by quite a margin in the first half of the period, though the Panthers did build back a bit of momentum later and the teams traded power play chances. Arthur Kaliyev did end up with a point-blank chance to extend the lead from the slot later in the period, but couldn’t convert, and the Kings stayed up 1-0 through 20 minutes.
We saw a pretty tight-checking, low-event second period from there, without a ton of chances exchanged. However, with the Kings on a power play in the back half of the frame, Fiala found Anze Kopitar with a great pass to set up a one-timer, and Kopitar wired a shot past Bobrovsky, to make it a 2-0 game.
SHEESH KOPI pic.twitter.com/pfavoTElz4
— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 17, 2023
Florida did have some good opportunities with sustained pressure on a power play before the end of the period, but Cam Talbot helped to fend off all chances, keeping the multi-goal lead intact through 40 minutes.
Despite Los Angeles killing of a couple power plays in the first half of the third period though, Sam Reinhart managed to get Florida on the board later in the frame, to cut the lead in half. However, Los Angeles did a good job limiting chances in the final five minutes or so, and hung on for the 2-1 win, snapping their brief two-game losing streak
It’s a big win for Los Angeles, getting back on track at home against a good opponent, and ending Florida’s five-game winning streak in the process.
The Kings’ penalty kill was a huge part of that, going 5-for-5 on kills. The team’s penalty kill is operating at 89 percent right now, though Cam Talbot was also counted on as a key part of that, making 10 saves across the Panthers’ power plays. Talbot also improved to a .927 save percentage across 12 games, continuing his excellent start to the season.
Notably, it was also a key game for Kevin Fiala. The new-look line with Fiala playing alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore looked good (though Danault and Moore have seemed like they could probably have success with just about anyone over the last couple years), and Fiala got in on both goals, with two points in the win.
However, Pierre-Luc Dubois left the game after crashing into the net and didn’t return, with what looked like it could be a serious leg injury. Per Todd McLellan’s comments as reported by LA Kings Insider's Zach Dooley, it does appear as though that the injury isn’t as bad as it may have looked.
Per Todd McLellan, Dubois went for tests today and believes the news is “a lot better than it could have been…, which is a great sign.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 17, 2023
PLD will be evaluated again tomorrow.
Maintenance day for Quinton Byfield, doesn’t seem like anything beyond that. https://t.co/Wnr8KWZzJ6
Assuming Dubois does miss at least some time, it’ll be interesting to see what the team does up the middle. Perhaps someone is shifted to center, though with the first line clicking like it has been, it seems like a low chance the team would move Quinton Byfield to the middle even on a temporary basis. Perhaps the team uses both Anderson-Dolan in the lineup at center and/or moves up Blake Lizotte temporarily, or calls up Alex Turcotte.
Regardless, with the team struggling at home, it could be a big momentum shift to beat a good team who’s been playing well as of late. The Kings also improve to 9-3-3, further separating the top three teams in the Pacific Division (along with Vegas, and Vancouver), apart from the rest of the pack.
In smaller news, the team also signed Koehn Ziemmer to an entry-level contract today. Ziemmer was selected by the Kings in the third round of this summer’s NHL draft and in 17 games with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars this season, Ziemmer has seven goals and 24 points in 17 games.
The Kings will be back in action tomorrow, as they wrap up their homestand against the St. Louis Blues.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM NOVEMBER
- Kings dominate in 4-1 win over Leafs - Kings get past Senators to stay undefeated on the road - Kings keep rolling with 5-0 win over Flyers - 4 players who are exceeding expectations with the Kings early on - Kings stay perfect on the road, extend streak with win over Golden Knights - Kings' winning streak ends in overtime loss to Penguins - Kings still looking to solve home-ice struggles