The Kings strolled into Canada’s capital for a matinee match on Canadian Thanksgiving against the Ottawa Senators as they sought to extend their season-opening points streak to three games.
After “stealing” their opener in Buffalo, as center Quinton Byfield told Kings Insider Zach Dooley after a 2-1 overtime loss in Boston on Saturday, the Kings felt they played not only better but closer to their identity despite picking up just one of two points against the Bruins.
“We’re making strides in the right direction toward Kings hockey,” Byfield told Dooley.
Sunday’s was the seventh straight meeting with the Bruins in Beantown that went to overtime and the eighth straight that was decided by one goal.
Once again, goalie Darcy Kuemper anchored the effort, stoning Trent Frederic in the first period and Charlie McAvoy in the second. For the second straight game, the lone goal he allowed in regulation was off a rebound after a strong initial save, this time on Brad Marchand.
For the Kings, who tilted the game analytically after the first 20 minutes favored Boston, forward Trevor Moore turned in a strong performance but was also at the center of Boston’s overtime tally. Moore generated an imposing shorthanded rush in the first frame, scored a de facto power-play goal just after a penalty expired in the second and nearly had a man-advantage marker at the back post in the third. He would also skate toward the bench for a line change in overtime, only to have to scramble back into the Kings’ zone where an exhausted Moore was little more than a witness to David Pastrnak’s game-winner.
“Yeah, two guys really tired and that’s what will get you in overtime, every time,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “It was only a 2-on-2 and we just didn’t get it done; the puck ended up on the wrong guy’s stick.”
In two games, the Kings effectively have one five-on-five goal, one that came off a steal below the goalline in the Buffalo zone 13 seconds into the closing stanza of their opener. Anze Kopitar scored that one as well as a power-play goal and a five-on-six empty-netter in that same period.
That lack of finish has placed pressure not only on Kuemper, but also on the Kings’ oft-deployed penalty kill. Their mindset harkens back to the days when John Stevens was running the PK, and their aggressiveness has been matched by their effectiveness so far.
That’s been critical, as the Kings have been the second most-penalized team on a per-game basis in the early going, finding themselves shorthanded 10 times in two matches. Nevertheless, they’re one of just six teams not to have allowed a power-play goal yet and one of only three to have done so across multiple games.
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“I don’t think we’re giving them much time, I think that’s the biggest thing,” defenseman Kyle Burroughs told Dooley. “We’ve been reading off each other really well, pressuring really well and getting our clears when we can. When we need a save, (Kuemper) has been there, he’s been probably our best player the first two games.”
Ottawa, which defeated defending champion Florida in its opener before losing to Montreal 4-1 on Sunday, is led by Tim Stützle, who has three goals in two games. The Sens’ biggest offseason move was a trade with Boston that landed them 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, a player the Kings were reportedly interested in last season.
