FINAL – Kings 3, Sharks 2 – Foegele, Laferriere, Spence, Hiller

The LA Kings found a way to get the job done during their home opener, as they skated to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings jumped out to an early advantage through defenseman Jordan Spence, who buried his first goal of the season to open the team’s account on home ice. Forward Trevor Moore showed patience off the rush to cut inside off the left wing and find Spence, who joined the play and worked his way into the slot. The defenseman collected the pass and snapped his shot past Sharks goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to get the hosts on the board.

1-0 became 3-0 through forward Warren Foegele, who scored twice in the opening period to give the Kings a three-goal advantage heading into the second intermission.

First, Foegele stripped the puck free behind the net and attempted a wraparound, which was denied by Blackwood, but after the puck was deflected back to him, he put home the rebound home for his second goal in as many games. Foegele added his second of the period on a deflection, as he gained body positioning in front of the net and deflected a shot from Brandt Clarke into the top corner for a 3-0 advantage.

Midway through the second period, as San Jose skated on its third power play of the evening, the visitors got on the board. After an extended sequence in the offensive zone, forward Mikael Granlund’s shot from the left-hand circle went off the back bar and in, past Kings netminder David Rittich on the glove side. Granlund’s goal brought the Sharks to within 3-1 heading into the second intermission.

Late in the third period, with the Sharks skating 6-on-4 and the goaltender pulled, Granlund buried his second goal of the game to bring his team within one. Off a won faceoff in the offensive zone, with his team on the man advantage, Granlund fired another shot through traffic, from the top of the circle, that went into the back of the net with 60 seconds remaining, to conclude the scoring.

Hear from Foegele, Laferriere, Spence and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Alex Laferriere
On his line continuing to score goals around the crease
Yeah, I think that’s when our line’s the best, is when we’re cycling pucks and getting it towards the net. I mean, they don’t all have to be pretty goals, they all count the same, so as long as we’re getting pucks around the net and getting pucks towards the net, it’s going to go in for us.

On why that line has complemented each other so effectively
I think our games kind of complement each other. We’re all hard working guys who like to forecheck and get pucks back. Foegs has an unbelievable shot, he just needed to get one to get going there and Turcs is a playmaker. He’s going to find you when you don’t even think you’re open. Just two really easy players to play with.

On the team’s fast start, but not carrying that over to the final 40 minutes
I think we were excited to get out there on home ice, and everybody you play against in this league is going to be good, they’re a good team over there. I know they haven’t gotten what they’ve wanted so far, but they’re a good team, and they’re going to play hard and everybody’s going to play hard every night. I think we had a lot of excitement going on there in the first and I think we got a little away from that, but I think it’s just something to look forward to next game.

Warren Foegele
On finally getting to experience this building as a home player
Yeah, pretty exciting to come back home and for myself, kind of first time being in this dressing room without having a preseason game here. But the fans were great. They were loud. It’s nice to see the new renovations that were done and I’m obviously happy to get the two points.

On getting two goals tonight and three over his last two games
Yeah, I think for myself, when I’m moving my feet and trying to attack the net, that’s kind of when I’m playing my game. Tonight, I got rewarded going to the net a couple times and I couldn’t have done without the linemates. I thought last couple games, we’ve really been buzzing, good cycle, good job moving our feet. Good things happen when you go to the net.

On scoring at home and feeling like a part of the team
I think anytime you can contribute on the scoresheet, it kind of helps with your confidence, but there’s other aspects of the game. Whether that’s killing a penalty or blocking a shot, we’ve got a lot of guys in this this room that are doing whatever it takes to win. Obviously it’s nice to score, but doing little things is what helps get wins.

Jordan Spence
On getting the win, but needing to improve in certain areas of the game
Yeah, for sure, I think that’s the biggest thing. If we’re playing like that, we’re going to lose many games. We got lucky today, but at the same time, we got the win, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy preaches on what we did in the third period.

On rotating defensive pairs, sometimes game-to-game, early in the season
Dewey being out is a big factor in our d-core, but at the same time, we’re trying to do the best we can. I think we’ve been doing pretty good job, but at the same time, I think we have another level that we can step up to and do better.

On if the Kings were at all thinking about a San Jose team yet to win a game
To be honest, we didn’t really think about it, but at the same time, I think it was in some of the thoughts, I think. In this league, anyone can win games and especially for them, they’re desperate to win, you can see that in third period. I think getting the win today is important, especially in our home opener.

Jim Hiller

Notes –
• Jordan Spence (1-0=1) scored his first goal of the season. With the goal, Spence extends his point streak against the Sharks to a fifth game (1-4=5) dating back to Dec. 19, 2023.
• Warren Foegele (2-0=2) scored his second and third goals of the season. Foegele has now scored three goals in his last two games, the 11th time in his career he has scored goals in back-to-back games, and just the fifth time he has scored three goals over a two-game span.
• Trevor Moore (0-1=1) registered his first assist of the season for his 100th career assist, becoming the first undrafted California-born skater in league history to do, and the seventh California-born skater to do so overall.
• Phillip Danault (0-1=1) picked up his third assist of the season. Danault now has five assists over his last five home games, dating back to April 11, 2024 vs. CGY.
• Alex Laferriere (0-2=2) picked up his second and third assists of the season for the second multi-assist game of his career (0-2=2; Jan. 4, 2024 vs. DET). Laferriere has now scored four points (2-2=4) over his last four games.
• Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) notched his fifth assist of the season, tying Anze Kopitar for the team lead. The assist marked his first career point against the San Jose Sharks.
• David Rittich turned aside 24 of 26 shots on goal to improve his record on the season to 3-2-0.
• Per NHL PR, the Kings scored 3 goals in the first period of their home opener for the third time in franchise
history. The others: 1976-77 (4) and 1980-81 (3).

The Kings will return to the ice for practice tomorrow at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.