Kings’ season opener spoiled by Avalanche

LOS ANGELES — The Kings kicked off their season with a sly jersey reveal, a roaring ovation for Anže Kopitar to begin his final season and a mixed reception for foe-turned-friend Corey Perry.

But then the game started.

All the opening-night excitement was quickly quelled by the Colorado Avalanche, who coasted to a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

After warming up in their home jerseys, the Kings returned to the ice with a video intro of their new alternate uniforms, which they strode out sporting.

Kevin Fiala scored the first goal of the Kings’ campaign, albeit an academic one, on assists from Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. Darcy Kuemper turned away 19 shots from the team with which he won the Stanley Cup in 2022.

For the Avs, the first of Nathan MacKinnon’s two assists hoisted him over Joe Sakic for the all-time franchise scoring lead. Cale Makar also had two assists. Martin Necas scored twice. Sam Malinski and Artturi Lehkonen each tallied, with Lehkonen adding an assist. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves.

“That’s a pretty good team. They’re a former Stanley Cup champion, not too long ago,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “They out-checked us, they caught us, they disrupted plays and they didn’t let us forecheck.”

The first 20 minutes of 2025-26 for both clubs were scoreless, but what they lacked in offensive explosiveness they made up for in physical fireworks near the end of the period. Former Ducks defenseman Josh Manson detonated forward Warren Foegele in the neutral zone, and soon had to answer to Jeff Malott in a spirited bout.

The Avs struck first on the scoreboard, 48 seconds into the period and 21 seconds after Malott’s additional minor penalty expired. Cale Makar and Devon Toews backed all the way up in their own zone, allowing MacKinnon to gain speed. He received a pass from Lehkonen, then circled behind the net and slid the puck in front for Necas’ laser from the slot.

“(MacKinnon) drives our team on a nightly basis offensively. He’s got such a unique skill set,” said Gabriel Landeskog, the Colorado captain who played his first game in L.A. in nearly four years. “There’s just so many things he does so well and I’m not surprised that he’s yet again breaking another franchise record. That’s just kind of what he does.”

They doubled their advantage at the 7:00 mark when Malinski picked off Joel Armia’s clearing attempt and flung the puck through traffic for his ninth career goal in his 100th NHL game.

A neutral-zone turnover by Cody Ceci, whose partnership with fellow newcomer Brian Dumoulin got off to a rocky start, sent the Avs attacking and the Kings scrambling. Makar’s fake inside the blue line undressed Malott, allowing the Norris Trophy winner to zoom forward for a shot that created a rebound goal for Lehkonen with 5:18 left in the period.

“The second period wasn’t good enough. We were on our heels and turning the puck over too much, and they were getting a lot of speed off turnovers,” said defenseman Drew Doughty, who tied Kopitar for a team high with four giveaways Tuesday.

Colorado converted on the power play, 10:43 into the third period. Necas’ snapped a shot to the far side off an offensive-zone draw, just five seconds after Fiala took a roughing penalty in the offensive zone.

The Kings would end up with four third-period power plays, scoring on one with a two-man advantage. Fiala and Kempe played pitch-and-catch until a shooting lane opened for Fiala’s one-time blast to the far side with 4:53 on the clock.

With the game out of reach, Brandt Clarke became the center of controversy as he chirped toward the Colorado bench down four goals and otherwise agitated the visitors. His late cross-checking penalty created a fracas in the corner that drew in all 10 skaters on the ice.

“For all the really good things Clarkie does, we probably don’t talk enough about how competitive he is,” Hiller said. “Clarkie’s not gonna go away. He plays hard; he’s in the middle of it.”

The Kings will have little time to lick their wounds as they will joust with the Golden Knights and the offseason’s crown jewel, Mitch Marner, on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

“It’s another good test for us. It’s going to be a tough month, we have a lot of good (opponents) coming up, so I think it’s going to be a great test for this team early on,” Kempe said. “We’re all excited for it, we’re going to embrace it and we’ve got to play better than we did tonight.”

FIT CHECK

The Kings’ previously unannounced third jersey is black and silver with the historic crown logo blown up into the main crest.