LOS ANGELES — Hours after the Kings scored big in the trade market by picking up dynamic and creative winger Artemi Panarin, they could have used him on the ice at Crypto.com Arena, where they fell to the Seattle Kraken, 4-2, on Wednesday night.
The Kings lost for the third time in four games. Seattle bounced back from a defeat against the Ducks at Honda Center 24 hours earlier that snapped a four-game win streak.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored two power-play goals on his 30th birthday for the Kings, both assisted by Kevin Fiala. Darcy Kuemper had 19 saves.
Shane Wright tallied twice to bookend Seattle’s scoring and Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn notched a goal apiece. Chandler Stephenson and Frédérick Gaudeau each chipped in two assists. Joey Daccord halted 21 shots.
The birthday boy Kuzmenko blew out the candles and did more than wish the puck into the net, igniting the offense by way of a power-play marker 7:42 after the opening draw.
Kuzmenko had a calm exchange along the left-wing boards with Brandt Clarke, receiving the puck back above the faceoff circle. He glided forward cautiously, selling a pass with his eyes before sneaking a shot through an unprepared Daccord’s five hole.
Seattle then clapped back with three unanswered goals at 9:16, 10:14 and 15:21 to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Ryan Winterton picked off Jacob Moverare’s backhanded rim-around pass, dishing the puck to Wright for a forehand-to-backhand move that beat Kuemper cleanly.
Another turnover singed the Kings just 58 seconds later when Alex Laferriere couldn’t handle Clarke’s pass in the corner of the defensive zone. That set in motion a sequence culminating in Larsson’s kneeling redirection goal from between the hash marks.
Dunn tallied on the power play, giving the Kraken two goals from defensemen. He got the puck just in front of the red line during a neutral-zone regroup, challenging Joel Edmundson and dashing to the net for a backhand goal.
Kuzmenko struck again on the power play, 10:27 into the middle frame. After Fiala and Adrian Kempe played a close-range game of pitch-and-catch with Fiala falling as he made the final pass, Kempe zipped the puck into the slot for Kuzmenko and goal No. 13 of the mercurial Russian’s campaign.
But with 14:10 left in the game, Wright scored his second goal, this one on the power play off a silky centering feed from Gaudreau.
With 4:10 remaining, a 4-minute penalty to Kempe effectively condemned the Kings to defeat.
More to come on this story.
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The Kings lost for the third time in four games. Seattle bounced back from a defeat against the Ducks at Honda Center 24 hours earlier that snapped a four-game win streak.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored two power-play goals on his 30th birthday for the Kings, both assisted by Kevin Fiala. Darcy Kuemper had 19 saves.
Shane Wright tallied twice to bookend Seattle’s scoring and Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn notched a goal apiece. Chandler Stephenson and Frédérick Gaudeau each chipped in two assists. Joey Daccord halted 21 shots.
The birthday boy Kuzmenko blew out the candles and did more than wish the puck into the net, igniting the offense by way of a power-play marker 7:42 after the opening draw.
Kuzmenko had a calm exchange along the left-wing boards with Brandt Clarke, receiving the puck back above the faceoff circle. He glided forward cautiously, selling a pass with his eyes before sneaking a shot through an unprepared Daccord’s five hole.
Seattle then clapped back with three unanswered goals at 9:16, 10:14 and 15:21 to take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Ryan Winterton picked off Jacob Moverare’s backhanded rim-around pass, dishing the puck to Wright for a forehand-to-backhand move that beat Kuemper cleanly.
Another turnover singed the Kings just 58 seconds later when Alex Laferriere couldn’t handle Clarke’s pass in the corner of the defensive zone. That set in motion a sequence culminating in Larsson’s kneeling redirection goal from between the hash marks.
Dunn tallied on the power play, giving the Kraken two goals from defensemen. He got the puck just in front of the red line during a neutral-zone regroup, challenging Joel Edmundson and dashing to the net for a backhand goal.
Kuzmenko struck again on the power play, 10:27 into the middle frame. After Fiala and Adrian Kempe played a close-range game of pitch-and-catch with Fiala falling as he made the final pass, Kempe zipped the puck into the slot for Kuzmenko and goal No. 13 of the mercurial Russian’s campaign.
But with 14:10 left in the game, Wright scored his second goal, this one on the power play off a silky centering feed from Gaudreau.
With 4:10 remaining, a 4-minute penalty to Kempe effectively condemned the Kings to defeat.
More to come on this story.
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