Adrian Kempe scored two goals and Artemi Panarin tallied three points as the Los Angeles Kings erased an early two-goal deficit to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Tuesday at Capital One Arena.
Washington opened the scoring 9:25 into the first period when Ryan Leonard scored his fourth goal of the season on a snap shot. Cole Hutson doubled the Capitals lead at 18:35, converting on the power play with assists from Jordan Kyrou and Jakob Chychrun. The Kings responded immediately in the final minute of the period. Kempe scored with 33 seconds remaining on a snap shot set up by Panarin and Alex Laferriere. Just 31 seconds later, Panarin scored unassisted with two seconds left on the clock to tie the game 2-2.
Following a scoreless second period, Los Angeles took the lead on the power play at 7:28 of the third period when Erik Gustafsson scored his first goal of the season unassisted. Kempe extended the margin to 4-2 at 11:35 on another snap shot assisted by Panarin and Laferriere. Scott Laughton sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:15, his first of the season, assisted by Joel Armia and Erik Haula.
Darcy Kuemper earned the win in net for Los Angeles by stopping 30 of 32 shots. Logan Thompson took the loss for Washington after making 21 saves on 25 shots. The Kings finished 1 of 2 on the power play, while the Capitals converted on 1 of their 4 opportunities.
The victory was the first of the regular season for the Kings, improving their record to 1-4-2. Washington saw its record move to 5-4-0.
Los Angeles continues on the road when it visits the New York Islanders on Thursday. Washington remains at home to host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
