Overview
- Buffalo beat Los Angeles 4-1 at Crypto.com Arena after the Kings opened the scoring on an Artemi Panarin power-play goal.
- Los Angeles is 28-25-16 with 72 points, sitting third in the wild-card standings, one point behind Nashville and six behind Utah.
- Anton Forsberg made the start in goal and recorded 29 saves, reflecting a short-term shift after questions about Darcy Kuemper’s recent form.
- The turning point came in the third period when a failed Kings challenge on Sam Carrick’s go-ahead goal led to a delay-of-game penalty, followed 50 seconds later by a Rasmus Dahlin goal.
- Interim coach D.J. Smith stressed the need for points every night as the Kings head to Utah on Sunday to complete the back-to-back.