LOS ANGELES –– The Carolina Hurricanes worked out on the beach in the morning and flexed their muscle on the ice Saturday night as they rode a 3-0 start to a 4-2 win over the Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings’ soaring offense and surging power play were held scoreless through nearly 50 minutes before a late man-advantage marker and later a milestone tally averted their first zero-goal game of the season.
Winger Arthur Kaliyev scored for the seventh time with the extra man before winger Samuel Fagemo potted his first NHL goal. Jonathan Quick stopped 27 shots in defeat, settling in for what projects to be extended duty while backup Cal Petersen, who won his first start Friday in the minors, seeks to rejuvenate his game.
Defenseman Brady Skjei, winger Martin Necas, center Sebastian Aho and winger Andrei Svechnikov tallied for Carolina. Necas also picked up an assist and defenseman Brent Burns contributed two. Pyotr Kochetkov made 31 saves.
“They’re a tough team to play against. They play at a high pace both with and without the puck, which makes them hard in all three zones,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought we were prepared for it; it took us a little while to figure it out. When you fall behind, with that type of pressure, too, it’s tough to come back.”
Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said that while his club was all business in the evening, they varied their routine playfully earlier in the day with a team workout on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.
“When you come out here, you don’t have morning-skate availability at the rink. So it was just the way things worked out, we thought we’d make the best of what we can and you’ve got, obviously, beautiful weather down here,” he said.
Fagemo out-skated the defense and potted his first career goal with 2:35 to play, but the Kings would draw no closer with Quick pulled for an extra attacker.
“I got the second breakaway of the game there, so I thought I’d be more patient and it was nice to see the puck go in. Of course it was a special feeling, but it sucks that the team lost,” Fagemo said.
The Kings’ fate had already been sealed by an own-goal off the skate of defenseman Drew Doughty. That goal was credited to Svechnikov, who skated into all five Kings defenders to set up the fortuitous bounce with 7:50 remaining.
Approaching the midpoint of the third period, the Kings finally found the back of the net. It was their scorching power play coming through when center Phillip Danault hit Kaliyev at the right faceoff dot for a one-timer that banked in off Kochetkov’s shoulder.
The Kings began the third period with purpose, as winger Kevin Fiala and Doughty came out with vigor and nearly generated a redirection goal for Kaliyev. Later in the frame Fagemo ended up with his first breakaway but struck the post.
Center Anze Kopitar nearly worked some four-on-four magic for the second straight game as the second period neared its close, but he was thwarted at the back post by Skjei, the second such denial by a Carolina defenseman in as many periods. Trevor Moore had also had a breakaway broken up by Burns in yet another near miss.
Overall, the second stanza left the impression that the Kings were hanging on, absorbing play early then being frustrated by the discipline and doggedness of Carolina. The ax finally fell with 5:49 left with a transition goal. Three Carolina forwards gained the zone with speed before Necas nailed a pass to Aho in front for a goal, the second one of the evening where a player received the puck near the goalmouth but still had time to hesitate and change direction for an uncontested tally.
The Kings had picked up a penalty just before allowing a power-play goal to close the first period, which they killed successfully to start the second. They could ill afford to let the air out, however. Aho knifed the puck wide of a wide open net, but got it back to take another shot at the aperture. Quick had to lunge face first at full force to deny the bid with his stick, then recovered to make another save on Seth Jarvis three seconds later.
Carolina extended its lead with a mere 19 seconds left in the first period, making good on its first power-play opportunity. Burns dished to Necas on the right side, where he powered a shot that was unabated by contact with a stick and then a body on its way past Quick at the far side.
The visitors got on the board first, 4:01 after the puck dropped. Winger Jordan Martinook creatively controlled a loose puck, lofting it ahead to himself and creating a two-on-one rush once Skjei joined the play. Martinook slipped a pass to Skjei, forcing Quick to push hard to his right. Skjei calmly transitioned from forehand to backhand to deposit the puck casually to Quick’s left.
“I thought in the first period we were slow. What I mean by that is that we weren’t skating slow, but our decision to attack at the right time was slow,” McLellan said. “So as we released a shot or a pass there was always a stick on it … as the game wore on we got better in that area, but it was obviously too late.”