LOS ANGELES — A quick start evolved into a slow burn.
The Kings, on three days’ rest, aimed to finally join the win column as they hosted the Boston Bruins, who were playing their second game of a back-to-back. The Kings looked like the team with more rest right out of the gate.
Alex Laferriere capped off a strong opening shift with a tap-in goal to get the Kings on the board just 31 seconds into the game.
But then the Kings (0-4-2) spent the next 19:29 failing to reach the back of the net, and the Bruins (7-2-0) pulled out of reach with a pair of empty-net goals in the Kings’ 4-1 loss on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
“The first period, we were all over them and hounding pucks,” Laferriere said. “We know these guys played last night and we let them kind of outwork us in our own building the last two periods. We can't let that happen.”
The Kings have now lost their first six games to start the 2026-2027 season and are the only team in the league without a win.
After Laferriere’s goal, the Kings continued to apply pressure in the opening period. They won puck battles and used their sticks in the defensive zone to disrupt passing lanes to eliminate scoring chances.
After the horn sounded, the Kings held a 12-6 shot advantage.
But the tide began to shift in the second period.
With 1:41 remaining of Brandt Clarke’s penalty to begin the period, the Bruins had fresh ice to get their game going. Although the Kings ultimately killed off the penalty, the Bruins had life, and they gradually took over the game.
“I thought in the second half of the game that their work was better than ours when it came for pucks and battles and speed,” head coach Peter Laviolette said.
Almost three minutes into the period, the Bruins tied it when a pass to the blue line got through Erik Gustafsson, which sprung David Pastrnak on a breakaway, and he fired a snapshot that beat Anton Forsberg low blocker side.
The more time went on, the more the Bruins took control.
Forsberg played well and stopped the Bruins as the scoring threats became more frequent, but Boston broke through again with just over six minutes left in regulation. Forsberg was unable to cover a rebound, and four Kings defenders went for it and knocked it loose, leaving Marat Khusnutdinov all alone to tap it home.
Elias Lindholm and JJ Peterka buried empty-netters to put this one on ice and hand the Kings another frustrating loss.
“Maybe (took our) foot off the gas a little bit,” Mikey Anderson said. “ That's the thing is, you get the one, you got to get the next one. Try and keep pushing and get it going. So maybe could have scored another one in the first. We don't. Either way, you got to try and come out and keep going. I thought we let up just a bit too much.”
Similar to last season, the Kings are struggling to score goals. Through six games, they’re averaging two goals a game, which is tied for the second-lowest mark in hockey. Six games is obviously a small sample size to look at, but given the Kings’ recent track record, it’s still notable.
“I think just simplifying things, I think that's a good way to start,” Laferriere said. “We haven't really gotten any bounces and it's easy to blame it on the bounces, but our work ethic is just not good enough right now. When we start working harder, we're going to get those bounces and I think that's just what we've got to do to try and turn it around.”
The Kings now hit the road for a five-game East Coast road trip as they look to change their fortunes. It starts at 4 p.m. on Tuesday in the nation’s capital against the Washington Capitals.
Even though they’re leaving town, they will carry the feeling of this loss with them.
“I think we've got to take it with us and stew on it a little bit,” Laviolette said about whether the Kings need to turn the page. “I don't think just pushing it away is going to do any good. We need to digest it and use it as fuel.”