In their second consecutive 3-2 overtime loss in the Sunshine State, it was very much deja vu all over again. Taking on the red hot Florida Panthers in Sunrise, Florida, the Kings earned a point in Thursday’s tilt but extended their winless streak to seven games (0-3-4). The overtime loss moves the Kings record 20-10-8.
The Kings struck first for the second consecutive game as Trevor Moore set a new single-season career high in goals. Picking up his 18th goal of the season, Moore located a loose puck in front of the Panthers net and lifted it past Sergei Bobrovsky for the game’s opening goal 6:17 into the first perid. The Kings took a 1-0 lead and the Panthers held a 17-12 shot advantage into the first intermission.
The team’s split goals in the second period as Sam Bennett first evened the score just over halfway into the middle stanza. All knotted up at 1-1, the Kings earned themselves a late power play after Pierre-Luc Dubois drew a two-minute holding minor on a lone break to the net. With just 21 seconds left in the period, Drew Doughty cranked a one-timer off of passes from Adrian Kempe and Anze Kopitar for his eighth goal of the season. Doughty’s goal marked his 75th career power-play goal (PPG), surpassing Bobby Orr (74 w/ BOS) for the ninth-most by a defenseman with a single franchise in league history. Also worth noting, Kopitar’s assist marked his 131st career road power-play assist, one shy of tying Marcel Dionne (132) for the most in franchise history.
Up 2-1 heading into the final 20 minutes, the Kings held off the Panthers for almost 18 minutes before the home team evened the score. With 2:18 remaining in regulation, Matthew Tkachuk tipped a Carter Verhaeghe shot and got it by Cam Talbot for a 6-on-5 goal.
For the second consecutive game, the Kings surrendered a third period lead that resulted in overtime. There, both teams traded off point blank scoring chances that resulted in multiple pipes being hit. Late into the five-minute 3-on-3 session, a Kempe cross-checking penalty sent the Panthers to a 4-on-3 power play for the remaining 1:23 of overtime. After killing off the first 1:22, Sam Reinhart beat the buzzer and Talbot with .7 remaining in overtime to extended the Panthers winning streak to nine games.
Talbot, who played a great game stopped 38 shots. His record now sits at 14-9-5.
The Kings six-game road trip continues on Saturday when they travel to Detroit for their second and final tilt with the Red Wings in the past nine days.
