Kings’ struggles at home continue in loss to Brad Marchand and Panthers
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Brad Marchand scored two goals and Sam Reinhart got the go-ahead goal on his 30th birthday in the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.
Anton Lundell got a shorthanded goal in the third period and Sam Bennett also scored for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who rebounded from a 7-3 loss against the Ducks to get their first victory on their four-game West Coast road trip.
Marchand has scored a goal in three straight games since returning to the Panthers from a one-game absence to travel to Nova Scotia to support a close friend who lost his daughter to cancer last month. The veteran tied the game late in the first period after taking the puck from Anton Forsberg behind the Kings’ net, and he added his ninth goal of the season in the third.
Drew Doughty broke the team record for most goals by a defenseman and the Kings beat the Winnipeg Jets.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.
Anze Kopitar got the first goal of his 20th NHL season and Corey Perry also scored for the Kings, who have lost three of four.
Forsberg stopped 19 shots for the Kings, who have started 1-4-2 at their downtown arena after being the NHL’s best home team last season.
Bennett put the Panthers ahead just 2:06 in, controlling and converting the rebound of Jeff Petry’s long shot.
Kopitar scored on the power play midway through the first, and Perry put the Kings ahead on a breakaway set up by a spectacular long pass from Mikey Anderson.
Reinhardt put the Panthers back ahead in the second, getting to the slot and firing a backhand for his seventh goal.
Lundell scored on a short-handed breakaway in the third after a turnover by Adrian Kempe.
Several members of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers were the Kings’ guests at the game, getting multiple loud ovations.
Up next for Kings: at Pittsburgh on Sunday to open a six-game trip.
