Following a final pair of preseason games in Quebec City, the LA Kings remained out East to open up their 2024-2025 campaign Thursday evening against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
Team captain Anze Kopitar recorded a natural hat trick in the third period, with two of the first goals coming against Sabres goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
While that would normally be enough to steal all the postgame headlines, the first star of the night would be goaltender Darcy Kuemper. He started in net for Los Angeles for the first time since returning to the club a few months ago and was quite impressive. The 35-year-old held strong over the first 40 minutes to keep LA within striking distance and ultimately rallied for 32 saves in helping set his team up for the third-period comeback.
Kuemper stopped all 13 shots in the opening period, including a penalty shot from Ryan McLeod.
KUEMPER SAYS NO@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/Os3cmvOBEI
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) October 10, 2024
After a scoreless first period, Buffalo forward Alex Tuch (1) opened the scoring late in the middle frame and picked up his own rebound after Kuemper made an initial stop on a shorthanded breakaway, 1-0.
Kopitar (1) fired home a pass from Alex Laferriere to beat Luukkonen, tying the game at one apiece just a few seconds into the final frame of regulation. Newcomer Joel Edmundson picked up his first assist as a member of the Kings.
If you had Kopi scoring our first goal of the year, congratspic.twitter.com/lVQlaZLZq2
— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 11, 2024
On a 5-on-3 power play with less than two minutes remaining in the game, Kopitar (2) converted the eventual game-winning goal after quick passes from Jordan Spence and Kevin Fiala.
Kopitar (3) completed the hat trick with an empty net goal 54 seconds later. He took the puck off a quick, heads-up pass from Quinton Byfield and made sure to elude some Buffalo players who were trying to block what was an otherwise goalie-less cage.
Byfield and Kopitar led all Kings skaters with four shots each.
LA begins the new season with a record of 1-0, and they still have six consecutive road games ahead of them before returning to Crypto.com Arena for their home opener on October 24th against the San Jose Sharks.
Expected Goals Against (xGA): Re-acquired by Los Angeles over the summer, Kuemper hadn’t suited up in the black and silver since the 2017-18 season, more than six years ago. In his first game back, the 6-foot-5 goaltender fought aside a 4.38 xGA and allowed only one tally – a breakaway chance late in the second period.
Andre’s First: Andre Lee, selected by Los Angeles in the 7th round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, made his NHL debut on a line with Trevor Lewis and Alex Turcotte. The skillful Swede was credited with two shots and two hits while impressing in the analytics department. With the lowest Time on Ice (5:54) of all Kings skaters, Lee led the team with 78.6% Corsi-For, for an 11-3 advantage.
Welcome to the National, Andre Lee!pic.twitter.com/Dcw4RdRJiR
— LA Kings (@LAKings) October 10, 2024
Reign Train: Thursday’s game marked the graduation of four Kings prospects, who all finished last season on a Calder Cup Playoff Run with AHL Ontario Reign. Lee was joined by Turcotte, Brandt Clarke, and Akil Thomas on the opening night 23-man roster.
More Numbers In a situation that will likely be something to keep an eye on in the weeks ahead, Kopitar and the other top centers all played a rather balanced set of minutes.
From the Front Office: Kings general manager Rob Blake spoke to media about season expectations, Lee’s training camp, Arthur Kaliyev, and more.
Up Next: Los Angeles faces the Boston Bruins on Saturday at 10:00AM PT and can be viewed on Bally Sports West.
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