The LA Kings’ preseason record slipped to 0-2 on Tuesday night, and the Utah Mammoth made sure the final looked convincing, leaving Crypto.com Arena with a 6-3 win.
Utah set the tone first, striking midway through the opening period on the power play. On the Mammoth’s second man-advantage chance, Mackenzie Weegar worked enough room at the center point to get a shot through traffic, and Daniil But got a touch in front while uncovered in the slot to send the puck past Darcy Kuemper.
The visitors made it 2-0 late in the first after the Kings couldn’t clear the puck up the left wall. Koehn Ziemmer and Samuel Helenius were unable to get it out, Utah reloaded, and Clayton Keller slid into the slot before beating Kuemper from between the circles.
Los Angeles answered early in the second with a power-play goal of its own. The top unit settled in, moved the puck well, and converted on its second chance. Brandt Clarke drifted down low while Adrian Kempe moved up top, and Clarke got a deflection in tight on Kempe’s shot that beat Karol Vejmelka to make it 2-1.
Utah, though, quickly took control again with two more second-period goals to stretch the margin to 4-1. First, Mikhail Sergachev worked the puck low and fed Nick Schmaltz in the left circle, where Schmaltz beat Kuemper to the near post. Then the Mammoth scored off the rush, with Anders Lee left alone in the slot to finish a pass from But.
The Kings got one back before the second intermission. Clarke chipped the puck out of his own zone off the glass, springing Martin Chromiak behind the Utah defense. Chromiak took it to his backhand and used a nice move to cut into the lead, pulling Los Angeles within 4-2.
Early in the third, the Kings trimmed it to one when Kenny Connors and Taylor Ward connected on the rush. Connors showed strength and poise to shake off his defender, then found Ward for a one-timer from the left circle. Connors now has assists in back-to-back exhibition games, three straight if the Rookie Faceoff is included.
Utah answered again soon after. Liam O’Brian pounced on a rebound in front of Kuemper and buried it for a 5-3 lead after the goalie’s pad save left him unmarked near the crease.
The Mammoth closed it out with an empty-net goal, sealing the 6-3 final.
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