Two games into the L.A. Kings’ Stanley Cup title defense has yielded a pair of losses for the surprise 2012 champs.
The Kings couldn’t hang on to a 1-0 third-period lead and ended up losing 3-1 to the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night.
“I don’t worry,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter told NHL.com after the game. “It doesn’t solve much, does it?”
After a lengthy celebration in honour of their Stanley Cup victory last June, the Kings were soundly beaten Saturday by the Chicago Blackhawks, who are now 3-0 to begin the season.
And, from all accounts, the same thing happened for the majority of Tuesday’s showdown in Denver.
Even the folks behind the Kings Twitter feed (@LAKings) that garnered so much attention during the 2012 postseason for its 140-character comedy stylings were calling it as they saw fit against the Avalanche.
Kings with a brutal turnover and with 3 unanswered goals the Avs take a 3-1 lead. 11min remaining in this one.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 23, 2013
One too many Kings failed clearing attempts and Landeskog gets a bounce from behind the net we are all tied at 1.
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 23, 2013
On the other side, the Avalanche, led by last season’s rookie of the year Gabriel Landeskog, are now 1-1-0-0 on the season.
Landeskog got the Avs on the board one minute into the third period. David Jones gave Colorado the lead just 1:35 later and P.A. Parenteau added the insurance marker just before the midway point of the final period.
“I thought we showed a lot of resiliency,” Avalanche coach Joe Sacco was quoted as saying in The Denver Post following the victory. “The first period, I wouldn’t call it ideal, from our standpoint. But we gathered ourselves.”
The win may have come with a price, however. Steve Downie left the game with what the Post reported was a right knee injury and did not return.