The LA Kings were unable to hold onto a late lead, as they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision against the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday evening at Climate Pledge Arena in Washington.

Neither team found the back of the net in the first period, despite a power play for both teams. The Kings held a 9-6 advantage in shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, though neither side really had many Grade-A looks.

Seattle opened the scoring early in the second period with a power-play goal. Forward Quinton Byfield made a good play to block a pass but his stick shattered on the play, leaving the Kings even further shorthanded. The Kraken took advantage, as defenseman Vince Dunn fed forward Jared McCann for a one-timer, which he sent past Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

The Kings responded with a goal of their own on special teams, however, sending the game into the second intermission tied at a goal apiece. After successfully killing off a 5-on-3 sequence, forward Joel Armia sprang forward Alex Laferriere on a shorthanded breakaway, with Laferriere deking to the backhand to beat Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord for his seventh goal of the season.

Late in the third period, forward Corey Perry drew a four-minute power play on a high-sticking call, setting the Kings up on the power play for a big opportunity. They converted off the rush, with Kevin Fiala finding a moment of magic to put the visitors ahead, scoring on the backhand to put the visitors ahead. Fiala’s goal made it three points in two games on the trip, with forward Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe collecting the assists on the entry.

Inside 30 seconds to play, with Seattle skating 6-on-4, the Kraken tied the game late to force overtime. After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, forward Eetu Tolvanen fed the puck into the slot and forward Matthew Beiners got a stick on it as he crashed the net, sending the puck past Forsberg and in for his fourth goal of the season.

The Kraken made it three power-play goals in overtime to secure the second point, as they converted 4-on-3 through defenseman Vince Dunn.

Hear from Forsberg, defenseman Joel Edmundson and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s overtime defeat.

Anton Forsberg

Joel Edmundson
On a tight-checking game and if the Kings got the game they expected versus Seattle
Yeah, for sure. They don’t really give too much off the rush, they kind of back out, similar to us, so we knew it was going to be a game where the team that uses the offensive zone as much as they can, work the puck low, is going to come out on top. They played us well, it was a tough game.

On not being able to close out a one-goal lead late in regulation
Yeah, for sure. I feel like every game kind of comes down with this situation and we’re very comfortable in that situation. At the end of the day, when you take seven minors, it’s tough to win a hockey game. We can do better in the kill. The refs are calling all these stick infractions, so we’ve just got to keep our sticks down.

On how he would assess the performance of the penalty kill tonight
We can take away some good stuff, but at the end of the day, we’ve got a job to do and we just didn’t do it.

On Anton Forsberg’s performance in tonight’s game
Yeah, it’s huge. He’s definitely found his game this past month or two, and he’s been playing awesome. It doesn’t matter who’s in net for us, we’re definitely comfortable, and he’s been playing great hockey.

Jim Hiller
On if he got the tight-checking game he expected from Seattle
No goals scored at 5-on-5, right? I thought both teams checked, neither are the most offensive teams, so that probably was on par for what we expected. Lots of penalties, both sides tonight, too many for us. That probably is the difference in the game.

On not finding a way to close out a 2-1 lead
There’s three or four different things that could have happened in the last minute of the game that didn’t, so we have to wear it. I thought Forsy played a pretty good game, so it’s too bad that we gave up those chances at the end.

On his assessment of the penalty kill, allowing three goals but scoring one shorthanded
I thought Forsy made some pretty good saves. I thought they moved the puck around pretty well, their team today, Forsy made some big saves. It’s just at the end, the last two go in, so that’s what you’re left with, that’s the sour taste in your mouth, just based on how it ended.

On taking seven minor penalties, all being stick infractions
Yeah, it is [more frustrating], because we cleaned that up and then that’s crept back in. You just obviously can’t do it. You can argue with some of the calls but the calls are made. That’s what I say, when you get those types of penalties, they’re 50/50 calls a lot of times, they can go either way, but if you put yourself in that position, then you’ve got to live with the results.

On his assessment of the power play tonight overall
We were around their net. We got in the zone and we had a lot of pucks bouncing around in front of their net, so we were not perimeter. You’re hoping that one of those just ends up on a stick, we’re around it, but we didn’t get that bounce. The guys executed really well on the on the entry and so we’ll take one, but we had a chance for more.

Notes –
– Forward Alex Laferriere (1-0=1) tied the contest at a goal apiece with his second shorthanded strike of the season, becoming the 23rd player in Kings history with multiple shorthanded goals (SHG) at age 24 or younger. Laferriere leaves Climate Pledge Arena with goals in consecutive visits to the building (1-0=1 on April 15, 2025) and has points (2-1=3) in three straight meetings with the Kraken, dating back to April 7, 2025.
– The Kings tallied their sixth shorthanded goal of the season, breaking a tie with the New York Islanders (5 SHG) for the most among all NHL clubs this season. They are also the only team with multiple skaters (also Joel Armia – 3 SHG) to have multiple shorthanded goals, per NHL PR.
– Forward Kevin Fiala (1-0=1) scored his 11th goal of the season, his third of the campaign on the man-advantage. Fiala breaks a tie with Adrian Kempe (10 G) for the most goals on the team and ties Anze Kopitar (3 PPG) and Andrei Kuzmenko (3 PPG) for the team-lead in power play markers.
– Fiala has now earned points in each of his last five road games (2-4=6) this season, dating back to Nov. 17 in Washington, and has found the scoresheet (2-5=7) in each of his last five visits to Seattle, dating back to April 1, 2023.
– Forward Joel Armia (0-1=1) provided the assist on Laferriere’s man-down tally, his seventh assist of the season and fourth shorthanded point (3-1=4) of the campaign. With the helper, Armia ties the Islanders’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau (2- 2=4) for the most shorthanded points by any skater in the NHL this season.
– Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) recorded his 10th assist of the year on Fiala’s tally, marking his 452nd career power play point (127-325=452). The Slovenian centerman (446-848=1,294) inches closer to the 1,300-point milestone in his career and trails only Marcel Dionne for both the most points (550-757=1,307) and power play points (172-289=461) in LA Kings franchise history. Per NHL PR, the captain factored on a go-ahead third-period goal for the 80th time in his career, which tied Dionne for the most in Kings history.
– With the assist, Kopitar has points (1-2=3) in each of his last three visits to the Washington State, dating back to Dec. 16, 2023, as part of his 10 career points (3-7=10) in 14 games played against the Kraken.
– Forward Adrian Kempe (0-1=1) picked up his team-leading 17th assist of the season to extend his road point streak against the Seattle Kraken to a fourth game (2-3=5), dating back to Dec. 16, 2023.

The Kings are scheduled to travel back to Los Angeles after tonight’s game. The team will return to the ice for practice on Friday, December 12 at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.