In Los Angeles, the Kings were outmatched by the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2, on Wednesday night.
Toronto hit for four goals in the middle frame to get the win.
Jack Campbell made 30 saves in the Maple Leafs win.
Toronto improved to 14-6-1.
The Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews had a goal and two points in the win.
“I think we just stayed patient the whole night, played really well within our structure, and when opportunities presented themselves, guys made plays and were able to capitalize,” Matthews said.
The Kings dropped to 8-8-3.
“Let’s face it, the 20 players that dressed tonight, nobody was helping anybody out, so if you’re a young guy coming in to play your first, it was a tough night,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said.
Cannot get more blunt than that.
The Kings’ Sean Durzi hit for a goal and assist in his NHL debut.
His power play goal made the 6-2 in the third period.
“It was nice,” Durzi said. “Obviously garbage time in the hockey game, but I thought to get it out of the way was good. There’s a lot to clean up, but it was really good.”
Viktor Arvidsson also scored for LA; his first period strike tied the game, 1-1, after Alexander Kerfoot had given the Leafs an early 1-0 lead.
Pierre Engvall got the Maple Leafs offense rolling in the second period when they scored four times; his goal gave the Leafs the lead at 2-1.
“I thought ‘Keefer’s’ done a good job going over some of the habits that he thinks we can improve on to help score goals. He’s usually pretty good at pointing those out, and I thought we got rewarded for it tonight,” Toronto’s Jason Spezza said. “When you get rewarded, then it starts creating a little bit of a belief for the team in what we’ve got to do.”
John Tavares and Matthews extended the lead to 4-1.
Spezza pushed the lead to 5-1 before the period ended.
make it 5-1 at 15:36 on the power play.
“It’s been a long time. I can’t remember the last time we’ve blown a game open like that, in terms of the goals going in, having a second period like that,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s been a long time, maybe all season, really, so it’s nice to have that for our guys.”
Michael Bunting extended the lead to 6-1 early in the third period.
Jonathan Quick made 32 saves in the loss.
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