Adrian Kempe Scores Twice as Kings Finally Get First Win

The Los Angeles Kings finally won a game. Adrian Kempe scored twice as the Kings rallied from 2-0 down to beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Tuesday night, ending a winless start and moving to 1-4-2, per The Associated Press.

Los Angeles came in as the only winless team in the NHL, with four goals in its previous four games. Then it scored five straight and had its highest-scoring game of the season.

Adrian Kempe and Panarin flip the first period

Washington took control early. Ryan Leonard scored at 9:25 of the first, his fourth of the season, and Cole Hutson made it 2-0 on a power play at 18:35, per the ESPN scoring summary.

Then came the shift that changed the night. Kempe scored at 19:27 off a feed from Artemi Panarin and Alex Laferriere, and Panarin tied it on his own with two seconds left in the period.

"Obviously, it's hard to play with a lot of confidence when you haven't won a game," Kempe said. "Seeing the pucks go in, I think helped everybody a lot."

If you missed it, those last 33 seconds of the first period are the clip Kings fans will be sending around all week.

The third period belonged to Los Angeles

After a scoreless second, Erik Gustafsson put the Kings ahead on a power play at 7:28 of the third, unassisted, for his first goal of the season. Kempe made it 4-2 at 11:35, again from Panarin and Laferriere, and Scott Laughton added an empty-netter at 18:15.

Darcy Kuemper, who played for Washington from 2022 to 2024, made 30 saves and shut out his old team over the final 41:25. Logan Thompson stopped 21 shots for the Capitals.

"We wanted to get that monkey off our back and you could see everyone bear down and get the job done," Kuemper said.

It was also coach Peter Laviolette's first win with the Kings, in his seventh stint as an NHL head coach. For Kings fans, a third period where the team protected a lead is the part worth replaying.

The Byfield worry

The win came with a cost. Second-line center Quinton Byfield left in the first period with an upper-body injury after playing just 2:44.

Per the NHL.com status report on Wednesday, Byfield is day to day and questionable for Thursday. The Kings recalled forward Jared Wright from Ontario of the AHL in what Laviolette called a precautionary move. Byfield has a goal and an assist in seven games.

What's next

The Kings stay on the road Thursday at the New York Islanders, then play at New Jersey on Saturday. Washington hosts Buffalo on Saturday.

Smacktok pick: lean toward Kempe getting on the scoresheet Thursday on Long Island. He had six shots and 2:16 of power play time against Washington, and Panarin assisted on both of his goals.