What a difference two days make... Just 48 hours after the Kings and Bruins played a tightly contested low-scoring overtime game, the switch was flipped and the Kings and Senators combined for 15 goals in a chaotic overtime thriller. Despite earning a point in their third consecutive game to open the season, the Kings leave Ottawa feeling as though they let an extra point slip away. The overtime loss comes after the Kings led in the game for over 29 minutes of gameplay, including three separate two-goal leads.
Kevin Fiala kicked off the scoring 8:12 into the game, scoring his first goal of the season on the power play. Fiala, who netted two goals in the game one-timed a shot in the high slot thanks to a pair of tape-to-tape passes from captain Anze Kopitar and Brandt Clarke. Just under a minute later, Alex Turcotte rounded the Senators net, spun and fired a shot towards the goal and watched the puck deflect off of linemate Trevor Lewis for the veteran forward’s first tally of the season. Lewis’ tally gives him 99 career goals, one shy of the century mark. With goals coming in successive fashion, the Senators responded just over a minute later with a power-play goal of their own and brought the deficit back to one heading into the first intermission.
The Kings netted their second power-play goal of the game 5:31 into the middle stanza and retook a two-goal lead when Adrian Kempe notched his first goal of the season. Kempe unloaded on a one-timer as Kopitar and Clarke again teamed up for the assists. The Kings could only hold onto the two-goal lead for just under five minutes as former King Zack MacEwan ripped a rolling puck slap shot from distance to again cut the lead to one. But again, quickly responding became a theme in Monday’s game as Alex Laferriere needed only 50 seconds to give the Kings their two-goal lead back. Laferriere deflected in a Kyle Burroughs point shot in the slot, earning his first tally of the season. Things calmed down for the next 4:57, but a four goal-spurt at the end of the second period ensued to bring the Senators even with the Kings. Coming just 20 seconds apart, Drake Batherson netted the Senators second power-play goal of the game, followed by Thomas Chabot evening the score at 4-4 with 4:28 to go in the period. Now tied, Fiala buried his second power-play goal of the game and the Kings third goal on the man advantage 57 seconds later. Unfortunately, not to be outdone, MacEwan responded again and evened the game at 5-5 with his second goal of the game 1:27 after Fiala’s goal.
Enter period three and Laferriere gave the Kings a 6-5 lead 3:38 in with a beautiful takeaway and individual effort that ended in a wrist shot in the net. The Kings lead would last 1:47 as Claude Giroux buried the Senators third power-play goal of the game to even the score again. The Senators then took a brief lead halfway through the period with another power-play goal, this one coming from Josh Norris. The lead lasted just 5:08 because Tanner Jeannot struck for the Kings with an in-tight wrist shot to knot the score at a touchdown each, 7-7. After 60 minutes, 14 goals had accumulated.
The game would head into overtime and like regulation, the track meet started immediately. Both teams had opportunities in the short-lived 3-on-3 session, but it was a second goal of the game from Norris that ended things 56 seconds in.
Darcy Kuemper made his third consecutive start to open the season and made 33 saves.
Notable stats from the game include…
- Nepean, ON, native Brandt Clarke (0-3=3) registered his first points of the season in front of his hometown crowd while recording the first multi-assist and first three-point performance of his career. Clarke (21 years, 248 days) became the youngest Kings player to post a three-assist game since Drew Doughty (21 years, 5 days) on Dec. 13, 2010.
- Anze Kopitar (0-3=3) registered his first three assists of the campaign, pushing his point streak against Ottawa to a fourth game (1-8=9), dating back to Dec. 6, 2022. The assists mark the 793rd, 794th, and 795th of Kopitar’s career, surpassing Guy Lafleur for sole posession of the 36th most in NHL history. With 1,217 total points (422- 795=1,217), the Kings’ captain now sits tied with former King Larry Murphy for46th most points all-time.
- Kopitar recorded his 303rd multi-point game and registered three points in a game for the 77th time in his career.
- Forward Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) notched his first goal of the season as part of his 69th career multi-point effort.
