The Kings’ 2026-27 season opener turned into a track meet they couldn’t slow down, as Los Angeles dropped an 8-4 decision to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver.
Colorado got on the board first with a power-play goal 6:33 into the game, but Los Angeles answered late in the opening period. Brian Dumoulin scored the first Kings goal of the season after Alex Laferriere pulled defenders toward him behind the net and worked the puck back to the point. Dumoulin then stepped into the left circle and ripped a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 1-1.
That tie didn’t last long. After the Kings failed to cash in on their second power play, Colorado turned a broken sequence into a 2-on-1 rush and Parker Kelly finished it off to put the Avalanche ahead 2-1 before the first intermission. The goal came at even strength, three seconds after the penalty expired.
The second period opened with Colorado still on a 5-on-3 carryover advantage, and Nathan MacKinnon made it count. Nazem Kadri worked low and found MacKinnon in the left circle, where he hammered home a one-timer to push the lead to 3-1.
Los Angeles kept finding answers, though not enough of them. Joel Armia responded almost right away with a shorthanded goal, using a toe drag at the offensive blue line before beating Blackwood from the high slot to cut the deficit to 3-2 and score his first of the season.
MacKinnon struck again midway through the period, finishing off a rush with Martin Necas for a high-glove goal and a 4-2 Colorado lead. Then Nicolas Roy made it 5-2 late in the frame, burying a rebound from close range after Kuemper made the first stop and Jaden Schwartz was involved around the crease.
The Kings answered again on the penalty kill. Trevor Moore jumped on a puck after Mikey Anderson’s deflection and turned it into another shorthanded breakaway chance, beating Blackwood cleanly in transition to make it 5-3. But Colorado had one more answer before the second intermission, as Artturi Lehkonen slipped into space and finished a touch pass from Brock Nelson for a 6-3 cushion.
Los Angeles opened the third period with a six-on-five goal during a delayed penalty, and Artemi Panarin cut the gap to 6-4 by scoring from the slot off a feed from Drew Doughty. That was as close as the Kings would get.
After that, the game tilted fully back to Colorado. MacKinnon and Brandt Clarke dropped the gloves in the Los Angeles end, and then the Avalanche closed it out with two more goals. Gabriel Landeskog scored at five-on-five before the final media timeout, and Lehkonen added his second power-play goal of the night, Colorado’s fourth of the game, to finish the 8-4 result.
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Kings Already Face An Uncomfortable Goaltending Question
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Peter Laviolette will not have to wait long for another look at the situation. With the Sharks next on the docket, the Kings have a quick chance to revisit their plan in net, and the pressure is on to show the opening-night call was a temporary stumble rather than the first hint of a much bigger concern. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Face A Costly Roster Puzzle In Alexander Nikishin Pursuit
The Kings interest in Alexander Nikishin has quickly turned into one of those transactions that looks appealing on paper and messy everywhere else. Los Angeles has been linked to the Carolina defenseman as it searches for help on the blue line, but the price tag is already making the conversation complicated, with the club trying to weigh both trade value and the cap implications of adding a player with a big future role.
What makes this especially tricky for the Kings is the structure of the deal itself. They can explore different asset combinations, but finding a path that satisfies Carolina while also fitting Nikishin into their payroll is no small task, and the chatter around the pursuit has centered on how many moving parts would be required before the Kings could even get to the finish line. [Read more 🡒]