LOS ANGELES - Matthew Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and goalie Jacob Markstrom turned away 19 shots as the Florida Panthers closed out their season-opening road trip with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, leaving the team at 2-0-2 and atop the Atlantic Division.
The victory capped a four-game trip in which the Panthers collected six of a possible eight points - a result Tkachuk said he would have accepted before the first puck dropped. “It was 2-1 filthy tonight to finish off a road trip,” Tkachuk said. “If you would have told me going into the trip that we’d take six of eight [points], I would have signed on the dotted line.”
The Kings drew first blood when Alex Laferriere scored from the left side of the net at 19:00 of the first period to make it 1-0. The Panthers led 6-3 in scoring chances at 5-on-5 through the opening 20 minutes but could not convert. Florida has surrendered just two goals at 5-on-5 through its first four games.
The Panthers entered the second period facing 1:05 of a 5-on-3 power play after late first-period penalties. Los Angeles managed only two shots on goal during the sequence. Seconds after completing the kill, defenseman Seth Jones drove to the net and lifted a shot over Darcy Kuemper’s shoulder to tie the game 1-1 at 3:49. “We talked about a game plan [during the intermission], and just wanted to be aggressive, you know, make them make plays around us,” Jones said. “Lars [Eller] made a great play on that goal. I saw a little bit of space against the forward playing defense.”
Tkachuk put Florida ahead for good at 11:20 of the third period, taking a pass from Sam Bennett and squeezing a shot through Kuemper’s pads from the left circle to make it 2-1. It was Tkachuk’s ninth third-period, go-ahead goal as a Panther and his second of the season, tying him for the team lead.
Markstrom stopped all 14 shots he faced in the second and third periods combined and made three high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com. He finished the road trip 2-0-1 with a .927 save percentage in three starts. “Has he been good. He made some huge saves,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “A lot of those nights you play really hard and then you have a power play that gets in one and your goalie bails it out. We all get to be in a good mood for three days instead of not based on his play.”
Maurice credited the team’s defensive structure, noting Florida allowed just 11 even-strength shots against the Kings. “I like our 5-on-5 game an awful lot,” he said. “I think we gave up eleven even-strength shots tonight. They were battling and they’re dialed in. They’re not cheating the game. I’m very pleased with the road trip.”
The Panthers absorbed more injury news during the game when Brad Marchand was high-sticked and then sent into the right post while driving to the net. Unable to put weight on his left leg, Marchand was helped off the ice and did not return. Maurice said the team would have Marchand evaluated Thursday. The injury compounds an already difficult situation: captain Aleksander Barkov is sidelined six to eight weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in the second game of the season. Jones said the team would not dwell on the setbacks. “Everyone gets hit with injuries, right? We’re not going to have a victim mentality. It’s next man up,” Jones said. “I think we have an extremely deep team. Everyone plays the exact same way, and I think that’s what makes us great.”
Markstrom said he is looking forward to returning home. “It’s going to be fun to play in front of the home fans. We’re away a lot this first month, so it’s going to be fun.” The Panthers host the Minnesota Wild in their home opener at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.