Make Way for the Kings LA Kings News and Info
Game 56; 33-20-3
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It was another tight defensive battle. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Kings, they lost for the second time in as many games, falling to the league-best Washington Capitals by a 3-1 count.
This was a close, back-and-forth game for the entire duration but it was the Kings who opened the scoring.
While shorthanded, the silver-and-black capitalized as Anze Kopitar fired a bad-angle shot past Philipp Grubauer for his 17th to make it 1-0. Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty had the assists.
It was more of the same in the second as both teams exchanged a plethora of chances, but it was the home team scoring the period’s lone goal.
With just 49 seconds remaining in the frame, Andre Burakovsky tipped in a Dmitry Orlov shot to beat Jonathan Quick for his 12th.
Buravosky then assisted on the game-winner with just 2:02 remaining in regulation as he and former King Justin Williams set Evgeny Kuznestov up for his 16th. Jason Chimera then iced the game with an empty-netter to make it 3-1 Washington and that was how this one ended.
While meeting former Kings Justin Williams and Mike Richards were the major storylines heading into this contest, Caps netminder Philipp Grubauer was the story heading out as he made 40 saves in the win for the home team. Jonathan Quick, however, was valiant in a losing effort in his return to the lineup making 29 saves.
The Kings fall to 2-3-0 on their current road trip but there is a silver lining in that this is the first time the team has suffered back-to-back losses since Jan. 23. Still, considering how hard the Kings worked on this night, the loss is not an easy pill to swallow, but they will look to get back on track on Thursday night when they enter the Gateway to the West to take on the St. Louis Blues.
