All good things must come to an end and for the Carolina Hurricanes’ eight-game win streak, the good thing came crashing down hard. A 7-2 loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings was a game of what can go wrong will go wrong for Carolina.
The Canes (42-23-4) gave up six goals before the game was even halfway done. It was a sloppy game with each team having nearly as many giveaways as it did shots on goal. The Kings (38-21-9) couldn’t miss in the early part of the game, scoring on six of their first 10 shots.
Kings right wing Adrian Kempe put Los Angeles up early, scoring on a snapshot 3:03 into the first period. Driving into the offensive zone, defenseman Brent Burns didn’t force a move on Kempe until it was too late, and before he knew it, Kempe fired a shot off the far post and past Canes netminder Pyotr Kochetkov.
Three of the first four goals rung off the iron and into the net for the Kings, who seemed to be inch-perfect when it came to shot placement. Kochetkov was left with very little chance on any of the first four goals. The one that didn’t ring off the post or crossbar came on a deflection from left wing Jordan Martinook’s skate.
Kings Left wing Andrei Kuzmenko beat the horn at the end of the first for his first goal as a King to make it 3-0. Then in the opening nine minutes of the second frame, the Kings scored three more times. In the first 30 minutes of the game, what looked to be the hottest team in the NHL, gave up six goals.
A shot bar-down, a King left unmarked at the back post and two Hurricanes players skating into each other were the three goals that made up the second period for Los Angeles. Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov scored his fifth of the year 14:17 into the second on a slap shot from the point but by then, the game was pretty much wrapped up.
Adding injury to insult, Carolina center Seth Jarvis didn’t return to the game after a skate race with Kings left wing Warren Foegele ended up with Jarvis crashing hard into the boards. The team’s leading goalscorer may be out for the foreseeable future, joining a handful of Canes regulars who couldn’t play on Saturday afternoon.
Los Angeles Left wing Kevin Fiala made it seven for the Kings after he wired a slap shot from the slot past Kochetkov. Hurricanes center Mark Jankowski scored his fifth with the team — and ninth of the season — eight seconds later. Off the face-off draw following Fiala’s goal, Jankowski got the puck and chipped the puck over the glove of Kings goaltender David Rittich.
The Hurricanes will look to put this performance behind them when they take on the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday at 8 p.m. It’s the Canes’ third game in four days as part of a short California road trip.
