Kings squander opportunity with lopsided loss to Kraken

LOS ANGELES — Todd McLellan coached his 1,000th game on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, but he did not get the result his favored Kings sought as they lost to the last-place Seattle Kraken, 6-1.

The Edmonton Oilers did not squander their opportunity against another lowly team, the Arizona Coyotes, whom they throttled by an identical 6-1 score to move within two points of the Kings for second place in the Pacific Division. The Kings and Oilers square off Wednesday night in Canada.

Winger Arthur Kaliyev scored the Kings’ solitary goal, while Cal Petersen allowed six goals on 38 shots. Center Blake Lizotte missed the game with an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Lias Andersson. The Kings reconfigured their lines during Monday’s game, including flipping centers Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault.

Fourteen of 18 Seattle skaters made it on to the score sheet. Center Alex Wennberg, defenseman Adam Larsson, forward Victor Rask, winger Jordan Eberle, center Jared McCann and winger Daniel Sprong scored goals for Seattle. Defenseman Vince Dunn had two assists and fought defenseman Sean Durzi, while McCann added an assist. Chris Driedger made 36 saves for Seattle, which has four wins in its past six games.

The Kings won convincingly against Seattle on Saturday but could not replicate that recipe Monday.

“It’s hard to pinpoint just one thing, it was a lot of stuff that, obviously, didn’t go right and we didn’t do right. This one definitely stings, especially the time and position that we’re in,” said Kopitar, who added that the line shuffling sent a message of “wake up, start playing, we need more.”

With 7:47 left, Seattle piled on another goal on the shift following the fight. It was McCann dishing to Sprong for his third goal in as many games since arriving in Seattle via trade. While the goal was credited to Sprong, it came after it hit the face of Kings defenseman Jordan Spence and went into the net.

The Kings could not seize momentum in the third period. After forward Adrian Kempe did not convert on a point-blank opportunity, the Kings were burned for two goals off takeaways in less than 30 seconds.

With 12:55 left, defenseman Olli Maatta’s shot attempt was blocked near the blue line by Ebeler, sending the winger the other way with speed for a snap-shot goal off a breakaway. On their next shift, the Kings turned the puck over again and fell behind 5-1 after McCann finished off a two-on-one rush with a rising wrist shot 29 seconds after Seattle’s fourth goal.

“We weren’t good from Minute 1 on. We were chasing it, so there was doubt right away,” McLellan said. “But where was the dagger? Probably the blocked shot that (became) Eberle’s goal. We had a little bit of momentum.”

The Kings threatened at times in the second period but failed to score. During a late-period surge, they had sterling chances from in tight for defensemen Troy Stecher and Jacob Moverare, but both were denied by Driedger.

With 6:05 left in the second period, Seattle stretched its lead to two goals with a goal in transition. Forward Yanni Gourde slowed the play down with a short pass for Rask and then occupied defenseman Jordan Spence as his momentum carried both men to the net. Rask hesitated then let fly with a shot through a wall of two teammates and three Kings defenders for his sixth goal of the season.

Seattle had regained command after a Kings’ breakout was stalled by a giveaway in their own zone. After winning a board battle along the left-wing wall, Dunn moved the puck to his partner Larsson at the right point. Larsson’s shot found the far side through screens by Rask and Eberle. Larsson and Eberle were teammates previously, playing together in Edmonton for one season under McLellan.

The game’s first goal went to Seattle but the game’s first power play was awarded to the Kings. They converted for the fourth straight game, their longest string all season, to tie the score 5:23 into the game. Kempe fooled Driedger with a shot fake and then dropped the puck to Kaliyev, who scored easily with the goalie out of position.

Seattle opened the scoring a mere 14 seconds into the game. Winger Ryan Donato’s wraparound attempt smacked off the pad of Petersen and into the slot, where Wennberg backhanded it home.

“They took advantage of the first shift of the game today, and after that, they pushed us out of the game with work ethic, execution, faceoffs, you name it, in every aspect of the game,” McLellan said.

McLellan was honored before the game for having guided the Kings through his 1,000th NHL game as a head coach. McLellan, who previously coached Edmonton and San Jose, has amassed a .576 points percentage and became the sixth active coach to reach 1000 games.

Only eight of the 30 coaches who reached the milestone in NHL history have posted a better mark. Of the active coaches, he is the third this season to accomplish it, joining Vancouver’s Bruce Boudreau and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer.

UP NEXT

The Kings hit the road for three games in Canada, beginning Wednesday in Edmonton.

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