Capitals Bow Down to Kings 3-1; Lose 7th Consecutive Game in California

Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 Thursday night at Staples Center. The Kings would open the scoring late in the first period, but Jakub Vrana would tie things up early in the middle frame. The Kings would regain the lead midway through the second period to take a 2-1 lead at the second intermission. The Kings would add an empty net goal late in the third period and gold on for a 3-1 win. The Capitals finish up their California road trip on Saturday when they visit the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop is 4:00 p.m.

STARTERS
Philipp Grubauer (8-7-3, 2.36 GAA, .922 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Jonathan Quick (25-24-2, 2.47 GAA, .921 sv%) started in goal for the Kings. The Capitals starting forward lines and defensive pairs:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Connolly-Eller-Burakovsky
DSP-Beagle-Chiasson

Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Jerabek

Scratches: Chandler Stephenson, Madison Bowey, Travis Boyd and Christian Djoos were the healthy scratches.

FIRST PERIOD
The Caps got off to a much better start than their previous outing in Anaheim, yet a majority of play in the early going took place in the Capitals zone. Grubauer and Quick both made several nice stops to keep the game scoreless through a majority of the period. The Kings Jeff Cater finally found the back of the net with 4:35 left in the opening frame.

The Caps best scoring chance came on the end of a beautiful feed from Alex Ovechkin to John Carlson, but Jonathan Quick would make the nice glove save.

The first period would end with the Kings leading 1-0. The Kings led in shots on goal 14-8 for the opening frame. The Kings also dominated the battle at the dot, winning 76% of the faceoffs in the opening frame. There were no penalties called in the first 20 minutes of play.

SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals would tie the game with a goal from Jakub Vrana at 5:52 of the middle frame. Vrana would knock the puck in while in mid-air for the tally.

But the Kings would get the lead right back with a goal from Trevor Lewis. Lewis’ goal was similar to Vrana’s as he batted the puck in for the tally.

Tom Wilson would catch a deflected shot to the head that would have him leave the game midway through the period. He would return for the third period.

The period would end with the Kings leading 2-1. The Capitals outshot the Kings 13-8 for the second period. The Kings led in shots on goal 23-21 after two periods of play.

THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals had two early power plays in the final frame but were unable to find the back of the net. The Capitals would generate just two shots on goal through the first 15 minutes of the final frame.

The Kings would add an empty net goal late for the 3-1 win.