The Los Angeles Kings wrapped up a demanding East Coast road swing with a hard-fought 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon. It was a game that tested their depth, resilience, and defensive structure - and even though they didn’t leave Raleigh with two points, they earned a gritty one the hard way.
Let’s start with the situation: the Kings were down to five defensemen, always a tough ask, especially against a fast, structured team like Carolina. Drew Doughty and the blue line corps had to dig deep, and they did - grinding through heavy minutes and high-pressure shifts to keep the game within reach.
The Hurricanes jumped out to a 2-0 lead through the first 45 minutes, looking every bit like a team that’s won over 30 games this season. But the Kings didn’t fold.
Instead, they came alive late in the third - and it was the young guns who stepped up. Quinton Byfield and Sammy Helenius each found the back of the net in the final 10 minutes, breathing life into a game that looked like it was slipping away.
Byfield’s goal came at a crucial moment, and Helenius - who’s been quietly building confidence - showed poise and timing, finding soft ice on the weak side and finishing a well-executed sequence. That goal, in particular, was a great example of the Kings creating numbers and capitalizing on a breakdown in Carolina’s coverage. Jeff Malott noted postgame that Helenius “found some quiet ice on the backside,” and that’s exactly what it was - a subtle, smart play from a young player who’s starting to look more and more comfortable at this level.
Anton Forsberg also deserves his flowers. While the final score says 3-2, the Kings leaned on him heavily to keep them within striking distance.
He made key saves throughout and gave L.A. a chance to rally late. It wasn’t a goalie-steals-one kind of night, but it was a strong, composed performance.
After the game, Doughty spoke about the group’s effort and the grind of playing with a short bench on the blue line. “You’ve just got to run 5D,” he said, noting how the coaching staff managed the pairings - three righties, two lefties, with minimal overlap. Doughty himself logged heavy minutes and looked fresh even in overtime, a testament to his conditioning and experience.
He also addressed the team’s mindset, saying, “We didn’t give up, came back in the third, got a huge point. It’s the last game of a long trip, and we wanted a win, but the effort was there.” That’s a sentiment that echoed throughout the locker room - disappointment in the result, but pride in the response.
Malott, who played with energy and physicality, highlighted the team’s emotional spark after a second-period incident involving Corey Perry stepping up in response to an earlier hit on Mikey Anderson. “It’s an opportunity to band together,” Malott said.
“When a guy goes down like that, and with Perry doing that, I think everybody responded physically. It brings us together.”
Perry’s leadership and timing - knowing when to step up and how to channel that moment - didn’t go unnoticed. Malott, still early in his NHL journey, pointed to Perry as a player he watches closely: “You can see the experience he has and knows what to do and when to do it. It’s a pretty good example.”
This game capped a 3-1-1 road trip for the Kings - a stretch that Doughty called “a decent trip, for sure.” He acknowledged the group had hoped for one more win, but in the grind of an NHL season, five points out of a possible ten on the road is nothing to shrug at.
The Kings now return home with momentum, a bit of a chip on their shoulder, and a clearer picture of what they’re capable of when adversity hits. They battled back, earned a point, and showed that even when the legs are heavy and the lineup is thin, there’s no quit in this team.