Kings vs. Capitals: Adrian Kempe Scores Twice as Los Angeles Rallies for Its First Win of the Season

Seven games into the season, the Los Angeles Kings finally get to stop answering the question. Down two goals late in the first period on Tuesday night, they scored five straight, Adrian Kempe found the net twice, and the Kings beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 at Capital One Arena for their first win of the year.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, Alex Laferriere added two assists, and former Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves against his old team. It was also the first win for the Kings under coach Peter Laviolette, according to NHL.com, and their highest-scoring game of the season, per the AP.

Washington Takes Control Early

For 18 minutes, this looked like more of the same for a team that came in at 0-4-2. Ryan Leonard opened the scoring at 9:25, cutting across the high slot and snapping a shot through traffic. "Guys just went to the net and I had a really good screen," Leonard said. "All I had to do was hit the net."

Scott Laughton took a slashing penalty at 17:05, and Cole Hutson made the Kings pay at 18:35. Hutson shook Laferriere at the blue line, drove into the middle of the ice and beat Kuemper from the right circle for a 2-0 lead.

To make matters worse, the Kings had already lost second-line center Quinton Byfield to an upper-body injury in the first period. He played just 2:44, per the AP, and Laviolette said he would be evaluated on Wednesday.

The Turning Point: 31 Seconds That Changed the Night

Then came the stretch that flipped the game. With 33 seconds left in the period, Panarin and Kempe broke out on a 2-on-1, Panarin slid it across, and Kempe ripped it home from the left dot.

Thirty-one seconds later, Mikey Anderson pried the puck off Jonny Brodzinski on the left wall, it popped loose, and Panarin wasted no time firing it past Logan Thompson at 19:58. Two goals in 31 seconds, the second with two seconds left on the clock. A team that NHL.com noted had scored exactly one goal in each of its previous four games suddenly had two in half a minute.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson described the gut punch perfectly. "It's looking like you're going to get out of the first (period) in pretty good shape, and then they score two and kind of flip the whole momentum of the game," he said.

Kuemper Holds the Line

The second period was scoreless, and Kuemper was the reason. His best stop came at 10:51, when he slid across to rob Jakob Chychrun at the right post on a backdoor feed.

"I forget how it started, but when they made the first seam pass, I saw him on the backdoor, so I was kind of trying to play the shot," Kuemper said. "But if it went (to Chychrun), I knew I had to be quick to get across, and luckily I was able to get a piece of it."

The AP noted Kuemper played for Washington from 2022-24. Revenge games are a cliche until a goalie actually delivers one.

Gustafsson Goes Coast to Coast

Early in the third, the Kings killed off a Drew Doughty hooking minor. Then Vincent Desharnais went off for hooking Laferriere at 5:51, and Erik Gustafsson made the Capitals pay in the most unexpected way. Gustafsson grabbed the puck in his own end and simply kept going: past two Capitals defenders at their blue line, then a deke on Thompson and a shot that went in off the goalie's glove at 7:28.

Gustafsson admitted it was not exactly the plan. "So, I was going to dump it in, but then I saw that little (opening) and it obviously worked, so it was good," he said. It was his first NHL goal since Jan. 12, 2025, per NHL.com.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery saw it as the swing of the game. "I think that's a pivotal moment in the game," he said. "The game's tied. You get a power play, do nothing with it, and then they get a power play and 'Gus' makes a play."

Kempe then made it 4-2 at 11:35, finishing at the right post off a Panarin pass from behind the net, and Laughton sealed it with an empty-netter at 18:15.

Star Turns

Adrian Kempe: Two goals, a plus-3 and 18:18 of ice time. He entered the night with one goal on the season and left with three.

Artemi Panarin: A goal and two assists, with his fingerprints on three of the five goals. NHL.com noted he has 41 points in 39 regular-season games against Washington.

Darcy Kuemper: 30 saves on 32 shots and nothing allowed over the final 41:25, according to the AP.

Erik Gustafsson: The go-ahead goal on a solo rush, in just 13:52 of ice time.

Stats That Matter

• 5: Straight goals by Los Angeles after falling behind 2-0.
• 31 seconds: The time between Kempe's first goal and Panarin's equalizer.
• 32-26: Washington's edge in shots, which did not matter much in the end.
• 18-8: The Kings' advantage in blocked shots.
• 7-2: Los Angeles' edge in takeaways, a sign of how often the Kings turned Washington over.

What It Means

The Kings improve to 1-4-2 with four points and finally have a win to build on. Kuemper summed up the mood. "I don't think it's unusual for teams to go on losing streaks throughout the year, but when it's at the start of the year, it gets magnified, and it feels a lot worse for us," he said. Los Angeles visits the Islanders on Thursday.

Washington falls to 5-4-0 after winning its previous two games, and the AP noted the Capitals were missing two injured centers. Forward Dylan Strome thought the effort was mostly there. "They were opportunistic and we didn't score on our chances tonight," he said. The Capitals host Buffalo on Saturday.

Closing Take

For six games the Kings looked like a band playing three different songs at once. In the final minute of a first period that was slipping away, Kempe and Panarin finally found the same key, and everything after that sounded a lot more like the team Los Angeles expected to be. Laviolette kept it simple. "But it was nice to get some goals and just put some runs up on the board," he said.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.