LA Kings lose home opener to Florida, Season Preview & Updates- Oct 2026

The Los Angeles Kings entered the 2026–27 season knowing that this would be different.

For the first time in two decades, Anze Kopitar was not in the lineup. The player who had become synonymous with Kings hockey — captain, No. 1 center, two-time Stanley Cup champion, franchise scoring leader and one of the most dependable two-way players of his generation — had retired.

The Kings responded by handing the captaincy to another franchise cornerstone, Drew Doughty, while bringing in a new head coach in Peter Laviolette and adding several veteran pieces in an attempt to finally push through the first-round playoff wall that has haunted the organization for more than a decade.

Then came the home opener.

And while the Kings played well enough to show why there is optimism surrounding the new era, the result was another reminder of what this team must improve if it hopes to become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Florida escaped Crypto.com Arena with a 2–1 victory on October 6, with Matthew Tkachuk scoring the deciding goal in the third period. The Kings had chances, including opportunities they simply needed to finish, but could not find the equalizer against Jacob Markstrom.

For a team that has made the playoffs five consecutive seasons without winning a series since 2014, the margin for error is becoming increasingly small. Plus the Western Conference is very deep so every game is important to make the playoffs and seeding as evidence by last year being a wild card and them being swept by top seed Colorado in the first round.

The Kopitar Era Is Over

There is no way to discuss the 2026–27 Kings without starting with Kopitar.

He spent 20 seasons in Los Angeles, played 1,521 games and left as the franchise’s all-time leader with 1,316 points — 452 goals and 864 assists. He won Stanley Cups with the Kings in 2012 and 2014 and served as captain for the final 10 seasons of his career.

His retirement represents much more than losing a veteran forward.

The Kings lost their top center, their faceoff specialist, their defensive conscience, their locker-room leader and the player who had been responsible for driving the franchise through its transition from the Cup-winning teams of the early 2010s to the younger group that has emerged in recent seasons.

Last season Kopitar won 56.9 percent of his faceoffs, continuing a remarkable run of winning more than 50 percent in each of his previous 15 seasons

That production cannot simply be replaced by one player.

The Kings now need Quinton Byfield to take another significant step. He has been inconsistent.  He has the speed but needs to come up bigger and not lose the puck as much especially in overtime where he has made some crucial mistakes.

They need Erik Haula and Scott Laughton to handle difficult minutes.

They need Adrian Kempe, Artemi Panarin and the rest of the forward group to compensate for the offense that disappears with Kopitar.

And, perhaps most importantly, they need the entire lineup to collectively replace the stability Kopitar provided every night.

The organization has also announced plans to retire Kopitar’s No. 11, another indication of how significant his place in Kings history has become.

Drew Doughty Takes the C

If there was an obvious choice to replace Kopitar as captain, it was Doughty.

The 36-year-old defenseman is entering his 19th NHL season and has spent his entire career with Los Angeles. He was named the 15th captain in franchise history and becomes the seventh defenseman in Kings history to wear the captain’s “C.” Adrian Kempe, Panarin and Mikey Anderson were named alternate captains.

Doughty’s leadership style is naturally different from Kopitar’s.

Kopitar led through calm consistency. Doughty leads through emotion, competitiveness and intensity.

That could be exactly what this version of the Kings needs.

Doughty has already won two Stanley Cups. He knows what a championship team looks like, and he has watched this organization repeatedly fall short in the playoffs.

His challenge now is not simply to wear the captain’s letter.

It is to help establish a new standard.

After the Florida loss, Doughty provided one of the more encouraging assessments of the young season, saying he did not believe the Kings played poorly and remained confident in what the team was building.

That confidence will matter. So will results.

Peter Laviolette Gets the Job

The Kings also changed behind the bench.

Peter Laviolette replaced Jim Hiller and takes over a team that desperately needs to become more dangerous offensively without sacrificing the defensive identity that has kept Los Angeles competitive.

Laviolette brings enormous experience. He is the seventh-winningest coach in NHL history, with 846 victories, and won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. He has also taken Philadelphia and Nashville to the Stanley Cup Final.

His mandate in Los Angeles is fairly straightforward:

Keep the Kings’ defensive structure, but make them more aggressive and productive offensively.

Last season Los Angeles scored only 2.68 goals per game, 29th in the NHL. Its power play ranked 28th at 17 percent, while the penalty kill ranked 30th at 74.6 percent.

Those numbers explain why Laviolette was brought in.

The Kings do not necessarily need to become an offensive juggernaut.

They simply need to stop making every game a one-goal game.

The New Faces

Los Angeles made a number of veteran additions during the offseason.

Mats Zuccarello brings scoring, playmaking and experience after producing 54 points in 59 games for Minnesota last season.

Erik Haula brings versatility, faceoff experience and defensive responsibility.

Corey Perry returns to Los Angeles after being traded away during last season.

Defenseman Erik Gustafsson was also added to provide another puck-moving option from the blue line.

The Kings’ opening-night roster also included Brian Dumoulin on defense and retained the core of the previous team, including Byfield, Kempe, Panarin, Brandt Clarke, Mikey Anderson, Cody Ceci and Darcy Kuemper.

The biggest addition may actually have arrived before the season.

Panarin, acquired from the New York Rangers in February, is now beginning his first full season in Los Angeles. He immediately produced after joining the Kings last season, recording 27 points in his first 26 games with the club.

The Kings need him to be a major offensive driver.

They need Kempe to continue being a premier finisher.

And they need Byfield to evolve from promising young center into a true No. 1.

That trio could determine how high this team can climb.

Kevin Fiala Remains a Major Missing Piece

One of the most important names missing from the opening-night lineup was Kevin Fiala.

Fiala’s absence is particularly significant because the Kings expected him to be one of their principal offensive weapons.

He suffered fractures to his left lower leg while playing for Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics and underwent surgery. He subsequently required follow-up surgery in September. The Kings said he could return in early November, and he has resumed skating on his own.

That timeline makes Fiala one of the biggest potential midseason additions for Los Angeles.

The Kings have already had to compensate for his absence by leaning more heavily on Panarin, Kempe, Byfield, Zuccarello and the rest of the forward group.

If Fiala comes back healthy and begins producing at the level expected of him, the Kings could suddenly have significantly more scoring depth.

Until then, the burden falls on everyone else.

The Biggest Hole: Center

The most obvious hole on this roster is the one Kopitar left behind.

There is no realistic one-for-one replacement.

Byfield has been moved into the No. 1 center role, with Haula and Laughton among the other options down the middle. The problem is that none of them brings Kopitar’s combination of offensive production, faceoff ability and defensive reliability.

Byfield is the player with the greatest upside.

He scored a career-high 24 goals last season, finished with 49 points and averaged more than 20 minutes per game. He also became more productive after Panarin arrived, recording 19 points in 24 games following the trade.

This is the season when the Kings need him to become more than a potential star.

They need him to become one.

The Home Opener: Florida Comes to Town

The atmosphere surrounding the home opener was fittingly charged.

This was not simply another game.

It was the first regular-season home game of the post-Kopitar era, the first home game with Doughty wearing the “C,” the first under Laviolette and the first opportunity for the new-look Kings to show their fans what this team could become.

The opponent could hardly have been more appropriate.

Florida arrived with plenty of recent championship credibility.

The Panthers won the Stanley Cup in both 2024 and 2025 before injuries and fatigue caught up with them last season, when they missed the playoffs. Rather than simply trying to run the same group back, Florida made one of the offseason’s biggest moves by acquiring Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa to join his older brother Matthew.

That gives Florida one of the most intimidating sibling combinations in professional sports.

And it gives Matthew Tkachuk another dangerous weapon around him.

Florida Had Plenty to Prove

The Panthers were hardly entering Los Angeles at full strength.  Their first loss this off season was long time goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who went to Toronto via free agency.

Captain Aleksander Barkov suffered a lower-body injury against San Jose and was ruled out for approximately six to eight weeks.

Then, against the Kings, Florida lost Brad Marchand.

Late in the second period, Marchand was driving toward the net when contact involving Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke sent him awkwardly into the post. Marchand remained down, visibly in pain, before being helped from the ice by Brady Tkachuk and Niko Mikkola.

The Panthers therefore finished the night having lost another major forward.

That made their victory even more impressive.

Florida’s response was essentially the definition of “next man up.”

A Tight First Period

The Kings did not overwhelm Florida early.

In fact, the Panthers controlled much of the opening portion of the game and held Los Angeles to just one shot through the opening 13 minutes.

But the Kings found the opening goal late in the period.

Erik Haula created the opportunity with a cross-slot play, and Alex Laferriere finished at 19:00 of the first period to give Los Angeles a 1–0 lead.

For Laferriere, it was an important early goal.

For the Kings, it was exactly the kind of opportunistic scoring they need more of.

Florida Answers

The Panthers responded early in the second.

Seth Jones tied the game at 3:49, taking advantage of an opening after Florida had killed off a lengthy Los Angeles power-play sequence. Jones attacked the net and beat Kuemper high.

That sequence became symbolic of the game.

The Kings had opportunities.

Florida survived them.

And when Florida received its own opportunities, the Panthers capitalized.

The Missed Chances

This is where the game becomes frustrating from a Kings perspective.

Los Angeles had enough chances to win.

The Kings generated opportunities in transition and around the net but did not finish them. The difference between a promising performance and a win was essentially the ability to bury those chances.

Against a team with championship pedigree, missed breakaways and missed high-danger opportunities become especially costly.

Florida did not need to dominate the game.

It needed to survive it.

And Markstrom gave the Panthers exactly what they needed.

He stopped 19 of 20 Kings shots and repeatedly kept Los Angeles from extending its lead.

The Kings also went 0-for-5 on the power play.

Florida went 0-for-6.

So while Los Angeles’ penalty kill deserves significant credit for keeping the Panthers off the board with the man advantage, the Kings’ power play ultimately failed to provide the difference-maker they needed.

That is an area Laviolette and his staff will undoubtedly be watching closely.

Then Came Matthew Tkachuk

With the game tied 1–1, the Panthers finally found their winning moment.

At 11:20 of the third period, Sam Bennett carried the puck into the offensive zone and found Matthew Tkachuk trailing into the play.

Tkachuk received the pass and snapped a wrist shot from the left circle past Kuemper.

Game over.

Florida 2, Los Angeles 1.

It was a goal that demonstrated exactly why Tkachuk is one of the game’s most dangerous big-game players.

It was also an outstanding play by Bennett.

The Kings had been within reach of earning their first victory of the season. Instead, one transition sequence and one precise finish decided the night.

Kuemper Was Good

Darcy Kuemper should not be blamed for this loss.

He stopped 26 of Florida’s 28 shots and kept Los Angeles within striking distance throughout the night.

The Kings’ goaltending situation is not the biggest concern coming out of the opener.

Their larger concern is what happens in front of the goaltender.

If Los Angeles continues to play games where one mistake, one missed chance or one special-teams sequence determines the result, Kuemper and the rest of the goaltending group will have very little margin for error.

The Panthers’ Own Injury Problems

There was another important subplot to the game.

Florida came into Los Angeles already missing Barkov.

Then Marchand went down.

The Panthers have now experienced firsthand how quickly injuries can reshape a season.

Their previous championship seasons demonstrated how deep the roster can be, but last season’s failure to reach the playoffs showed the other side of that equation.

Florida started the current season with another formidable challenge and still managed to take six of eight possible points on its four-game road trip.

That is championship-level resilience.

The question is whether the injuries begin to accumulate again.

What the Loss Says About the Kings

The 2–1 loss should not cause panic.

At the same time, it should not be dismissed.

The Kings played well enough to earn a point.

They did not play well enough to win.

And that distinction has become important for this franchise.

Los Angeles has now reached the playoffs five consecutive seasons and has lost in the first round every time. The organization has not won a playoff series since the 2014 Stanley Cup championship.

This is no longer simply about making the playoffs.

The Kings need to become a team capable of winning once it gets there.

That requires finishing chances.

It requires a functional power play.

It requires stronger center depth.

It requires Fiala’s return.

It requires Byfield to take another step.

And it requires the veterans to make sure that the post-Kopitar era does not become another period of merely respectable hockey.

What Should Give Kings Fans Hope?

There is plenty.

Panarin gives the Kings a legitimate elite offensive creator.

Kempe remains a proven scorer.

Byfield has the potential to become the team’s next great center.

Doughty remains an elite competitor and now has the captaincy.

Clarke provides offensive ability from the blue line.

The defense remains deep.

Kuemper can still give them quality goaltending.

Laviolette has the experience and track record to change the team’s offensive approach.

And Fiala is still waiting in the wings.

The Kings also have veteran additions in Zuccarello, Haula, Perry and Gustafsson who give Laviolette more options than he had a year ago.

What Could Go Wrong?

The concerns are just as clear.

Replacing Kopitar is not going to be easy.

The center position could become a problem.

Fiala’s health is uncertain until he actually returns.

The power play must improve.

The Kings must score more at even strength.

And the team’s habit of playing so many close games means a handful of missed opportunities can become the difference between three points in the standings and none.

Last season Los Angeles lost 20 games after regulation, an NHL record, and went 13–20 in games decided after 60 minutes.

That statistic tells the story of a team that was often close but not consistently decisive.

This year’s Kings cannot afford to remain merely close.

Final Assessment

The Florida game was simultaneously encouraging and frustrating.

Encouraging because Los Angeles looked competitive against a talented Panthers team, killed all six Florida power plays, received excellent goaltending from Kuemper and showed the defensive structure that has become its identity.

Frustrating because the Kings had opportunities to win and did not capitalize.

They missed chances.

They went 0-for-5 on the power play.

They allowed Florida to turn a 1–1 game into a 2–1 defeat with one outstanding offensive sequence.

And once again, the Kings left the ice knowing they had been competitive without getting the result.

That cannot become the story of another season.

The post-Kopitar Kings are going to have to create their own identity.

Doughty is now the captain.

Laviolette is the coach.

Byfield is being asked to become the No. 1 center.

Panarin is expected to drive the offense.

Fiala is waiting for his return.

And the organization has surrounded its returning core with veteran additions designed to make the team tougher, deeper and more dangerous.

The Kings do not need to look like the 2012 or 2014 championship teams.

They need to become the best version of this particular team.

The home opener showed that version may be competitive.

The next challenge is proving it can also be ruthless.

Against Florida, the Kings were one or two finishes away.

One or two saves away.

One power-play goal away.

One breakaway finished instead of missed.

But championship teams eventually stop talking about being close.

They start winning those games.

For the Kings, that is the challenge of the entire 2026–27 season.  More at https://www.nhl.com/kings/

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