LOS ANGELES –– The momentum from a soaring road trip only carried the Kings so far as they fell to earth against the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2, at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.
The Kings had won convincingly in back-to-back away games in Nashville Monday and Minnesota Tuesday but lost a home match in regulation for the first time this season to Vancouver, which has now won three straight.
“They’re a quick team and they’re a good team,” defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “They kind of beat us at our own game. Give them credit, they played a really good game, [though] I thought we played decent.”
Quinton Byfield sounded the goal horn early but more than 52 minutes passed before Vladislav Gavrikov added a second score. Darcy Kuemper negated 19 of 22 Vancouver shots. While the Kings provided an encouraging update on Alex Turcotte –– he didn’t play Thursday but does not have a concussion –– they sustained another setback when Mikey Anderson was struck in the face by a Filip Hronek slapshot.
Quinn Hughes scored a goal, assisted on another by Jake DeBrusk, and was not credited with a secondary assist on Connor Garland’s goal only because it was credited to Garland as an own goal by Kuemper. J.T. Miller iced the Canucks’ cake with 1:14 to play. Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.
Hughes had three assists in Vancouver’s win over the Ducks on Tuesday and six points on this three-game California swing, which the Canucks swept.
The third period proved repeatedly that a shot on goal is seldom a bad play, including the three-quarter-ice heave by Miller into an empty net to seal the Kings’ fate.
With 6:03 remaining, Gavrikov chucked a shot from the blue line through a Trevor Lewis screen to earn his first goal of the year and give the Kings new life. Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault each extended their points streaks to four games with assists on the play.
“That’s the thing with our team, we feel like we always have a chance,” Edmundson said. “When Gavi gets a big goal like that, it definitely gives us energy on the bench. After that goal, we started playing really hard.”
That goal merely cut the Kings’ deficit to one, however, because Hughes intercepted a clearing attempt that led directly to his deking Akil Thomas out of his skates for the second time in the game before whipping a long shot past Kuemper, 2:44 into the closing stanza.
“[His level] is pretty elite, especially playing a man-on-man team, I feel bad for the [defenders], that would suck trying to cover him out there,” Miller said.
After a solid first period, especially considering that they spent seven minutes shorthanded, the Kings saw the ice tilt toward the visitors’ end early in the second period.
That included the only goal of the frame, which pitted DeBrusk against Danault in a pair of individual battles that came about after daring plays by Hughes. Hughes’ keep-in and drive to the net weakened the Kings’ structure before a Hronek point shot attempt created a follow-up opportunity with an open net for DeBrusk. Danault initially saved a goal with a diving stick check, but after a recovery by DeBrusk and another dazzling display by Hughes, Danault blew coverage in the slot. Hughes’ pass reached a wide-open DeBrusk, who faked a shot and skated around Kuemper’s challenge to slip the puck in uncontested at the 5:51 mark.
Another Hronek attempt nailed Anderson in the face, sending him to the ice for an extended period as blood flowed from his head.
“We knew he was doing good, as long as the trainer said he was fine, it was back to hockey,” Edmundson said. “It’s never good to see blood on the ice though.”
The Kings opened the scoring less than two minutes into the match. As the puck bounced and bobbed in the neutral zone, Byfield controlled it confidently and zoomed ahead. He used his long reach to sell a forehand move before swiftly transitioning to his backhand for his second goal in two games, which were also his first two of the season.
The Kings killed the game’s first penalty and then drew one of their own, but an undisciplined hit by Tanner Jeannot on Brock Boeser –– who had to prematurely exit a contest that he entered with 17 goals and 23 points in 20 career games against the Kings –– earned Jeannot a match penalty for an illegal check to the head.
In five minutes of power-play time, the Canucks were able to even the count with a rangy tic-tac-toe play that saw Hughes send the puck from the left point to the right-wing wall for Miller, whose shot-pass to the back post found Garland. As his shot advanced toward the goal line, Kuemper knocked the puck into the net with his stick as 5:40 showed on the clock.
The Kings buzzed at times and competed throughout, but the toll of losing two skaters after already facing an uphill climb because of the schedule proved significant as they faced a mature team that moved to 6-1-0 on the road this season.
“I just didn’t think we were sharp. Our passing wasn’t crisp,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “Our best opportunities, I think we missed the net, so we just weren’t sharp as a team.”