Panthers edge Kings but lose Marchand to injury
Forward sustains apparent lower-body injury, Tkachuk breaks tie in third
By Dan Greenspan
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
LOS ANGELES -- Matthew Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the Florida Panthers in a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.
Tkachuk put Florida ahead at 11:20 of the third with a wrist shot from the left circle after Sam Bennett found him trailing in off the rush.
“Credit to that line on this road trip,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Bennett, Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. “It’s four straight games where that line played against the other team’s best, and we’ve had some pretty high-end people and some high-end talent (as opposition), and they come out as a plus line, and that’s huge for us.”
Seth Jones also scored, and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves for the Panthers (2-0-2), who concluded a four-game season-opening road trip.
“If you would have told me at the beginning of the trip that we'd take six of eight (points), I would have signed on the dotted line,” Tkachuk said.
Florida forward Brad Marchand sustained an apparent lower-body injury late in the second period. He was high-sticked by Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke while driving the net, which sent Marchand awkwardly into the right post with 53 seconds remaining in the period.
Marchand was in visible pain while holding his left knee on the ice. He stayed down for a few minutes and was attended to by a trainer before being helped off the ice by Brady Tkachuk and Niko Mikkola.
It was the second notable injury on the West Coast trip. Center Aleksander Barkov will miss 6-8 weeks because of a lower-body injury he sustained in a 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 1.
“I mean, everybody gets hit with injuries, right?” Jones said. “We’re not going to have a victim mentality. It’s next man up, that’s how it’s always been. You know, we can’t think about the past or last year. Injuries happen. I think we have an extremely deep team. Everyone plays the exact same way, and I think that’s what makes us great.”
Alex Laferriere scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for the Kings (0-2-1), who were playing their home opener.
“I thought we fought hard,” Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty said. “Didn’t think we played poorly, and I know we’ve lost three now, but I’m still confident in what we’re building, and I think we’ve been playing better each game.”
Laferriere put Los Angeles up 1-0 at 19:00 of the first period. He was at the bottom of the left circle to collect a cross-slot pass from Erik Haula and shoot into an open net.
Jones tied it 1-1 at 3:49 of the second period, cutting toward the net on a rush and beating Kuemper top shelf. The goal came after the Panthers killed a two-man advantage and an extended power play that was caused by Dmitry Kulikov's double minor for high-sticking at 19:43 of the first.
“We talked about a game plan (for the penalty kill during the first intermission) and just wanted to be aggressive,” Jones said. “You know, make them make plays around us. And then Lars (Eller) made a great play on that goal. I saw a little bit of space against their forwards playing defense and just tried to take it to the net.”
NOTES: Tkachuk has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. ... The Panthers were 0-for-6 on the power play. The Kings were 0-for-5.
