Game 1 FINAL – Kings 1, Avalanche 2 – Laughton, Anderson, Smith

The LA Kings dropped Game 1 of the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs by a 2-1 final score on Sunday afternoon at Ball Arena in Denver.

Neither team found the back of the net in the first period, with the Kings successfully killing off the only power play of the opening 20 minutes. Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty had perhaps the best look of the frame, but was not able to get a rebound go at the back post, sending the game into the first intermission tied 0-0.

Inside the final five minutes of the second period, Colorado finally opened the scoring. The Avalanche forechecked effectively, forcing a turnover along the boards, deep within the Kings’ defensive zone. Forward Nathan MacKinnon got the puck towards the net, which was blocked down in front, by Colorado forward Artturi Lehkonen was the first player to it, scoring on a rebound from close range to put the hosts ahead 1-0.

Colorado doubled its advantage just shy of six minutes into the third period, capitalizing on a neutral-zone turnover by the Kings. The fourth line was unable to get the puck over the center red line in transition, leading to a flip pass by forward Jack Drury the other direction. The puck found forward Logan O’Connor on a breakaway and he buried top shelf as the Avalanche took a 2-0 lead.

With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, the Kings pulled a goal back on the power play, with forward Artemi Panarin burying his first goal as a member of the Kings. Up at the center point, Panarin let a shot go, through a lot of traffic and in, past Colorado netminder Scott Wedgewood. Forward Alex Laferriere and defenseman Brandt Clarke collected the assists on the play, as the Kings moved to within 2-1.

Hear from forward Scott Laughton, Mikey Anderson and Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith after Game 1.

Scott Laughton

Mikey Anderson
On his overall takeaways from today’s Game 1
I thought it was hard, I thought we didn’t give up too, too much. Obviously a few too many penalties, but the kill did a good job and Bergy came up big when we needed him. It just comes down to a couple bounces, a couple plays. They found a way to capitalize. So, we’ll watch it and figure out if we can change a few things and try to get better going into Game 2.

On how he felt the Kings handled the Colorado surges in play
I thought it was pretty good. They had however many points this year, best team in the league, so you know they’re going to have pushes and you’ve got to try and weather it, reset, take a breath and try and give a little push back. I thought they had some times when they had the puck for a good chunk, we bent a little, didn’t break and then you’ve got to try and turn the next couple shifts after those into maybe us doing the same to them.

On holding the Avalanche to two goals but not winning that game
I think we can finish [better], you get a few chances didn’t finish, maybe be a little bit harder in the o-zone. That’s the kind of hockey, we’re comfortable in the low-scoring games. I don’t think we can outscore them, so we’re going to have to keep it like that. Maybe we get the power play going, they had a couple good looks, another one goes in, different game too. We’re comfortable in the low-scoring games, so we’ve got to try and keep it tight, try and give them the least amount as possible.

On the team’s confidence coming out of Game 1
We’re confident the last little bit. I don’t know if you know everyone follows, we’ve been feeling good about our game. We’ve been playing pretty good hockey to get us in. We know what they have, everyone knows how good they are, but I think we have a good team in here, we’ve got a good game plan that guys buy into and want to play. The feeling around the room the last couple weeks, a month, it’s been very high and I expect it not to change at all going forward. Need to keep the morale in a good spot to try and get and get some wins.

D.J. Smith
On his takeaways from today’s Game 1
We started with some intensity. Checked hard, the compete level was there. Coming in after being on the road, little bit of concern, just a quick practice coming here, not a ton of prep time, but I thought the guys did what they had to do and played the right way. We fall short but there’s a lot of good things.

On how he believes the Kings can generate more offense in Game 2
At the end of the day, I mean, they score the most goals in league so I’m going to say that holding them to two, I think they could ask themselves the same question is, are they going to continue to win with two goals? We had a couple empty nets, we missed. Give the goalie some credit. I think we could be on the net more and I think the only thing I’d take away is we’ve got to be more physical. We’ve got to hit the D more and I expect that in the next game.

On how he felt the Kings handled the Colorado surges throughout the game
I thought we handled it well. I mean, they had pushes, they have elite players, 117 points, the number-one team in the league. They have pushes where they’re all over you and I thought we handled it well. With the chances they did have, Forsy was really good. That’s why we’re here, goaltending and some of those veteran D that can get you out of those situations. Now, one of the concerns is the way that they can hang on to it, hang on to it, and then quick up you and score and that’s the winner. We turn one over, they quick up it and they score.

On the confidence levels of his team coming off a Game 1 defeat
I think this is the game we’ve been playing. I don’t think it’s anything outside the ordinary. I think this is the game we’ve been playing for six weeks, seven weeks. We didn’t score tonight, we had some looks. We’ve been typically scoring more, but if you’d have told me at the start of the night that this is what it was going to look like, the score after two, we wanted to score, but we’d probably take it and have it come down to one shot. Whether it’s special teams or whatever, we’ve just got to bear down a little bit more on our chances. I think we can get more pucks to the net and again, I think we’ve just got to be a little meaner offensively.

Notes –
– Forward Artemi Panarin (1-0=1) scored his 22nd career postseason goal this afternoon. The Avalanche are the eighth opponent against whom Panarin has found the back of the net in playoff play.
– Forward Alex Laferriere (0-1=1) notched his first assist of the 2026 postseason, his sixth career playoff point (1-5=6) in 12 games played.
– Defenseman Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) picked up his career playoff assist with a secondary helper on Panarin’s strike. Clarke has three total points (2-1=3) in seven career postseason appearances.
– Captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty each took the ice for their 11th career Stanley Cup Playoffs today at Ball Arena. In doing so, the pair of two-time Stanley Cup champions surpassed Luc Robitaille (10) for the second most postseason appearances in Kings history behind Dave Taylor (13).
– Rookie forward Jared Wright, who played collegiate hockey for the University of Denver from 2022-23 – 2024-25, made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut at Ball Arena this afternoon.
– Goaltender Anton Forsberg made 28 saves on 30 shots faced in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff appearance.

The Kings will not practice tomorrow and will return to the ice for morning skate on Tuesday, April 21 at 11:30 AM at Ball Arena, in advance of Game 2 later on that evening.