Takeaways from the Kings’ 3-2 overtime loss to Flyers

There were far too many takeaways from the Kings’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on what was a tumultuous day and night for the Los Angeles organization. It started with the Kings’ finding out they would be unable to bring up a replacement for injured center Anze Kopitar from the minor leagues and finished with a controversial goal in overtime -- and an angry Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick.

Kings are finding new levels of resilience

Faced with playing short-handed from the start, the Kings dug deep and came away with a point and were close to grabbing two points after a rough start.

They were forced to play one forward short because of salary-cap issues. Kopitar (upper-body injury) could return shortly and two other injured forwards, Trevor Lewis and Marian Gaborik, are closer to being cleared to play.

This was the first loss in seven games for the Kings.

“Obviously, without our top forward in the lineup it’s going to be tough to win games. But I thought some other guys stepped up and played well,” said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. “But I also think some other guys can do a little bit better job of stepping up when we’ve got key guys out of our lineup. Hopefully we get him [Kopitar] back soon.”

Youngsters adjusting to learning curve

Some of the Kings were pushed out of their comfort zone against the Flyers.

Adding more minutes might be easier for the likes of Doughty, who embraces the challenge and played nearly 30 minutes against the Flyers. But it is something new for many of the players, especially since Kings Coach Darryl Sutter essentially went with nine forwards the final two periods against the Flyers.

“You go with the flow, right?” Kings captain Dustin Brown said. “As players, you want to play. We have more players that want more ice than the other way around, which is always a good thing.

“I thought toward the end of the game, guys were starting to make their shifts shorter. It’s not only the additional ice but it’s when you’re not used to it. It’s a big difference. If you’ve never played 20 minutes, you don’t know what it’s like to play 20 minutes.

“It’s a big jump. From 16, 17 minutes to 20 minutes is a big jump for a lot of guys.”

Said Doughty, who was a minus-two against the Flyers: “I love to play as many minutes as possible. I’ll play 35, 40, whatever it takes. I felt really good out there tonight. I thought I was flying. Although I was on for a few goals against -- which I’m not too happy about -- there are some things we can fix.”

Slow start hampered the Kings

Doughty said the first period against the Flyers was the Kings’ undoing.

They trailed 1-0 by the 5:25 mark and were fortunate to end the first period trailing by only 2-1.

Without Quick’s proficiency, the Kings could have been down by two or three goals. Quick faced 43 shots in all, including 20 in the opening period.

“Our first period really hurt us,” Doughty said. “That’s where we lost the game, really. It wasn’t that overtime goal, it was before that. We should have never been down in the first. We just didn’t come out ready to play.”