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Kings left wing Kevin Fiala, right, controls the puck while under pressure from Seattle Kraken right wing Eeli Tolvanen during the second period on Monday night, April 7, 2025, sat Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
LOS ANGELES — In their first game since clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kings’ four-game winning streak came to an end with a rare home loss, as they fell to the Seattle Kraken, 2-1, on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings (44-24-9, 97 points) failed to gain ground in their pursuit of first-place Vegas (47-22-8, 102 points) in the Pacific Division race, but they remained four points ahead of the third-place Edmonton Oilers (44-28-5, 93 points), who lost to the Ducks, 3-2, in Anaheim. All three teams have five regular-season games left.
Before the game, Kings coach Jim Hiller downplayed the idea of the matchup with Seattle being a “trap game” and stressed mental readiness at 76 games into the season.
“In the Edmonton game, you knew there was going to be energy, without a doubt. So, you worry about maybe coming down from that,” he explained but followed up, “If this is right (pointing to his head), the body will be right.”
Following the loss, players and coach alike agreed that the effort was not enough.
“We weren’t really playing our game like we were supposed to,” said defenseman Jordan Spence, who logged 24:35 of ice time in the absence of defensemen Drew Doughty (ankle) and Joel Edmundson (upper-body injury).
Another hole appeared in the Kings’ roster when forward Adrian Kempe did not return for the third period for what the team described as “personal reasons.”
The Kings (29-5-4 at home this season) scored first, and quickly, with Quentin Byfield, who was flying from the warmups on, finding the net just 1:48 into the first period, scoring with one hand tied behind his back by a grappling Shane Wright.
But the Kings, whose power play went 0 for 3, failed to capitalize on a nearly 2-minute five-on-three advantage and finished the period trailing, 2-1.
“If you score there, you’re feeling pretty good about yourself, and it’s a hole for them to be behind us by a couple,” Hiller said of the missed opportunity to build on their early lead.
Matty Beniers had evened the score with just over a minute remaining in the period, tapping in a pass from Jamie Oleksiak that ricocheted off a pair of Kings players in the crease. Brandon Montour, the Kraken’s top-scoring defenseman, gave his team the lead when he scored his career-best 17th goal of the season with 31 seconds left in the first.
The depleted Kings’ defense maintained the score in the second, buttressed by continued strong play from goalie Darcy Kuemper, who finished with 26 saves. After allowing two goals in the opening frame for the first time this season, Kuemper shut down a pair of breakaway chances by Eeli Tolvanen and added a spinning stick save on a point-blank chance by Jaden Schwartz to keep the Kraken from adding to their one-goal lead.
“I was on the ice there, and that was my guy. It kind of slipped towards me and I honestly thought that was a goal,” Spence said of the highlight-reel stop by Kuemper, who is second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.03) and fourth in save percentage (.922).
“Just like with the save that he made today, he’s been like that pretty much the whole season. When you have a guy like that in net, we have a lot of confidence,” Spence said of his netminder’s consistently strong play.
But Kraken goalie Joey Daccord (28 saves) matched Kuemper’s effort in the third period, stopping 11 shots to protect the visitors’ lead. The Kraken (34-38-6, 74 points) blocked 30 shots on the night, a number Hiller attributed to his team’s shot selection.
“It’s easier to block a wrist shot than a slap shot,” Hiller said. “What more can we do? We can slap the puck and make it hard.”
As for the playoff race with Edmonton, Hiller said he only scoreboard-watched after the game.
“We didn’t get our job done. So I was kind of concerned,” Hiller said.
