Kempe scores twice, Kings defeat Capitals for first win

WASHINGTON -- The Los Angeles Kings scored five straight goals, including two by Adrian Kempe, to earn their first win of the season, 5-2 against the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, Alex Laferriere had two assists and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves for the Kings (1-4-2), who earned their first win under coach Peter Laviolette.

"I don't think it's unusual for teams to go on losing streaks throughout the year, but when it's at the start of the year, it gets magnified, and it feels a lot worse for us," Kuemper said. "It looks a lot worse. So, nice to get a win, and now we just got to get rolling.”

Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson scored, and Logan Thompson made 21 saves for the Capitals (5-4-0), who had won two straight games.

“I felt like we did what we wanted to for the most part,” Washington forward Dylan Strome said. “Controlled play, got through the neutral zone pretty well. They were opportunistic and we didn’t score on our chances tonight.” 

Leonard gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 9:25 of the first period. He entered the zone, skated across the high slot and scored on a snap shot through a screen. 

“Guys just went to the net and I had a really good screen,” Leonard said. “All I had to do was hit the net.”

Hutson increased the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 18:35. He eluded Laferriere at the blue line, skated down the slot and snapped in a shot from the edge of the right circle.

The Kings, who had scored one goal in each of their past four games, tied it with two goals in 31 seconds during the final minute of the period.

Kempe scored first to pull the Kings to within 2-1 at 19:27. He took a pass from Panarin on a 2-on-1 rush and scored with a snap shot from the left face-off dot.

Panarin then tied it 2-2 at 19:58. Mikey Anderson forced a turnover by Capitals forward Jonny Brodzinski along the left wall, and Panarin fired the loose puck past Thompson from the left circle.

“It’s looking like you’re going to get out of the first (period) in pretty good shape, and then they score two and kind of flip the whole momentum of the game,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said.

Kuemper kept the score tied when he robbed Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun at the right post during 4-on-4 play at 10:51 of the second period.

“I forget how it started, but when they made the first seam pass, I saw him on the backdoor, so I was kind of trying to play the shot,” Kuemper said. “But if it went (to Chychrun), I knew I had to be quick to get across, and luckily I was able to get a piece of it.”

Erik Gustafsson gave the Kings a 3-2 lead at 7:28 of the third period with a power-play goal. He went end to end, split two Washington defenders at the blue line and deked Thompson before snapping a shot off the goaltender’s glove. 

“I think when I took it up past the blue line, the forward kind of came behind me and then I saw their three guys in front of me were kind of flat-footed,” Gustafsson said. “So, I was going to dump it in, but then I saw that little (opening) and it obviously worked, so it was good.”

The power-play goal came shortly after Los Angeles killed off a man-advantage for Washington.

“I think that’s a pivotal moment in the game,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “The game’s tied. You get a power play, do nothing with it, and then they get a power play and ‘Gus’ makes a play.” 

Kempe increased the lead to 4-2 at 11:35, scoring at the right post off a pass from Panarin, who was behind the net.

Scott Laughton scored into an empty net at 18:15 for the 5-2 final.

“I think when we go back and watch the game, we're going to look at it defensively to see what we can tighten up,” Laviolette said. “But it was nice to get some goals and just put some runs up on the board.”

NOTES: Kings forward Quinton Byfield left the game midway through the first period with an upper-body injury. Laviolette said Byfield will be evaluated on Wednesday. … Panarin has 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 39 regular-season games against the Capitals. … It was Gustafsson’s first NHL goal since Jan. 12, 2025.