Kings Rally Past Capitals 5-2 After Late First-Period Surge

Los Angeles turned a 2-0 deficit into a 5-2 win over Washington, with two goals in the final 33 seconds of the first period changing the feel of the game. The Kings entered the night as the NHL’s last winless team; by the end, they had their first victory of the season. For the Capitals, an early lead and two strong rookie goals couldn’t compensate for the momentum they handed away before intermission.

Two young Capitals supplied the early spark

Ryan Leonard opened the scoring with a composed finish against Darcy Kuemper, the former Capital in goal for Los Angeles. Leonard carried the puck into the zone, slowed near the point and moved toward the middle above the faceoff circles before sending a wrist shot past Kuemper. Traffic in front helped: “Guys just went to the net, and I had a really good screen,” Leonard said after the game.

It was Leonard’s second consecutive game with a goal and his fourth of the season. After nine games, he leads Washington with eight points and ranks second on the team with four goals. The source credits his recent improvement to a higher level of play since signing an eight-year contract extension with the Capitals almost a month earlier. His finish against Los Angeles offered another example of how patience and traffic can turn a rush into a scoring chance.

Cole Hutson added Washington’s second goal on the power play, his first with the man advantage this season. Jordan Kyrou found him at center ice, and Hutson carried through the middle, maneuvered around multiple Kings defenders and snapped the puck past Kuemper. His individual skill put the Capitals up 2-0 with 95 seconds remaining in the first period.

Hutson now has five points on the season, and his goal showed why his skating and puck control have drawn rookie-of-the-year attention. Washington got important production from two young players, but the broader power-play picture remains unsettled. The Capitals went 1-for-4, the second game in a row with that result. Their recent goals with the extra skater have come through individual plays from Leonard and Hutson; the units still need to create clearer shooting lanes and get more attempts through to the goaltender.

Los Angeles seized the game before the break

The two-goal lead lasted only until the final 33 seconds of the opening period. Los Angeles scored twice in that short span to tie the game, erasing Washington’s cushion before either team returned to the ice for the second. The timing mattered: the Kings went from facing a two-goal hole to starting the next period level, while the Capitals had to regroup after letting their advantage disappear at once.

That response also changed the game’s momentum. A lead can give a team room to manage the pace; a tie after a late collapse puts pressure on the team that had been ahead to reset. Los Angeles carried the confidence of its comeback into the rest of the night and finished with five goals. Washington never recovered its early control.

Erik Gustafsson, another former Capital, scored the go-ahead goal on a power play. He drove the puck end to end, slipped past Washington defenseman Timothy Liljegren and finished without an assist. The goal put Los Angeles in front and completed the swing from 2-0 down to a lead.

There’s an extra wrinkle in Gustafsson scoring against Washington. The Capitals traded him and a first-round pick to Toronto for Rasmus Sandin in 2023. His goal was a strong individual effort, and it came against the club that moved him.

Washington’s special teams still need answers

The Capitals had two power-play chances in the third period to get back into the contest, but Kuemper stopped them. That left Washington with one goal on four opportunities for a second straight game. The tally from Hutson was a bright moment, but it didn’t erase the need for more consistent creation from the units. When late chances are needed, getting shots through traffic can matter as much as a skilled entry or a clean individual move.

For Los Angeles, ending the winless start required a response after falling behind, and the late first-period goals delivered it. For Washington, the lesson is sharper: early scoring from Leonard and Hutson gave the Capitals an opening, but the final seconds of the period took it away. Their next step is to turn promising individual power-play moments into sustained pressure—and to protect a lead when the game is still within reach.