Panthers vs. Kings: Matthew Tkachuk's Third-Period Winner Lifts Florida as Brad Marchand Is Hurt

After three straight overtime games to open the season, the Florida Panthers finally found a way to settle one in 60 minutes. It just cost them something on the way out of Los Angeles.

Matthew Tkachuk scored the go-ahead goal with 8:40 left in regulation, Seth Jones tied it in the second period and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves as the Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night. The win closed a four-game season-opening road trip, but Florida lost Brad Marchand to what the AP described as a left leg injury late in the second period.

Kings Strike First, Panthers Survive the Storm

The Kings spent much of the first period of their home opener on their heels, per the AP, yet they were the ones who broke through with a minute left. Erik Haula sent a cross-slot feed to Alex Laferriere, who had nothing but twine to shoot at for his first goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Then Florida's penalty trouble arrived. Eetu Luostarinen was called for interference at 19:04, and Dmitry Kulikov took a double minor for high-sticking Adrian Kempe at 19:43. That gave Los Angeles a two-man advantage for 1:21 bridging the intermission, plus a long stretch of 5-on-4 after that.

The Panthers killed every second of it. Jones explained the plan they hatched in the room.

"We talked about a game plan (for the penalty kill during the first intermission) and just wanted to be aggressive," Jones said.

Six seconds after Kulikov's penalty expired, Jones made the Kings pay. He took a pass from Lars Eller, attacked the net on the rush and beat Darcy Kuemper up high at 3:49 of the second to tie it 1-1.

"And then Lars (Eller) made a great play on that goal," Jones said. "I saw a little bit of space against their forwards playing defense and just tried to take it to the net."

The middle period got feisty. Garnet Hathaway and Joel Edmundson dropped the gloves at 7:40, and Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke was whistled twice. Clarke's interference minor at 8:53 came up empty for Florida, and his high-sticking double minor at 19:07 changed the night for a different reason.

The Marchand Moment

Marchand was driving the net when Clarke's stick caught him in the face. Per the AP, the impact spun Marchand into the right post, and his left leg bent back awkwardly. NHL.com reported he stayed down for a few minutes, was tended to by a trainer and was helped off the ice by Brady Tkachuk and Niko Mikkola.

It was the second major blow of the trip. NHL.com noted center Aleksander Barkov will miss 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury sustained in the 4-3 overtime loss at San Jose on Oct. 1.

Jones refused to let the room spiral.

"We're not going to have a victim mentality. It's next man up, that's how it's always been," Jones said. "I think we have an extremely deep team."

Turning Point: The Trailer Becomes the Main Event

Florida spent the first half of the third grinding, and the Kings matched them. Artemi Panarin went off for tripping Mikkola at 6:33, and Sam Bennett followed four seconds later for slashing Cody Ceci, so neither side got a clean look.

At 11:20, on a rush, Bennett found Tkachuk trailing into the left circle. Tkachuk took the feed and beat Kuemper with a wrist shot for a 2-1 lead, his second goal of the season. Los Angeles never found an equalizer, and Markstrom shut the door the rest of the way.

That goal was the product of a line that has been asked to do the heavy lifting all trip.

"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," Florida coach Paul Maurice said of Bennett, Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe.

The Stars Who Carried It

Tkachuk finished with a goal, four hits and a plus-1 in 21:25. Per NHL.com, he has three points (two goals, one assist) during a three-game point streak. Bennett's assist was his third straight game with one, per the AP.

Jones was the anchor on the back end, playing 25:33, and his tying goal came seconds after Florida's biggest kill of the night. Markstrom faced only 20 shots, but he stopped 19 of them in a game where one more Kings goal would have changed everything.

On the other side, Kuemper made 28 saves on 30 shots and gave the Kings every chance. Laferriere and Haula combined on the only goal, and Haula won 13 of 23 faceoffs.

Stats That Matter

• 0-for-11: Combined power plays. Florida went 0-for-6 and Los Angeles 0-for-5.
• 33-13: Hits, Florida over Los Angeles. The Panthers played their usual heavy brand.
• 30-20: Shots on goal in Florida's favor.
• 27-15: Giveaways, Los Angeles vs. Florida.
• 1:21: The 5-on-3 Florida killed bridging the first intermission, according to the AP.

What It Means

Florida improves to 2-0-2 with six points from a four-game trip that opened with three straight overtime games. Tkachuk summed up the haul perfectly.

"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.

The Panthers finally head home to host Minnesota on Saturday, though the Marchand news will hang over the homecoming.

Los Angeles falls to 0-2-1 and remains winless after losing its home opener, following an 8-4 loss in Colorado and a 5-4 overtime loss in San Jose. Drew Doughty stayed positive.

"I thought we fought hard," 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."

The Kings visit Vegas on Saturday.

Closing Take

For three games, Florida played the role of a TV series that keeps ending on cliffhangers. In Los Angeles, the Panthers finally wrapped one up in regulation, and they did it the way they always seem to: heavy, structured and opportunistic, with a penalty kill that refused to break. Losing Marchand stings, and the coming weeks will put Jones' faith in the depth chart to the test.

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