The LA Kings secured their place in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs after a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Monday evening at Climate Pledge Arena.
Inside the game’s first three minutes, forward Quinton Byfield opened the scoring with a smooth individual effort. In his own zone, Byfield chipped the puck off the boards to himself, creating a 2-on-1 rush the other way. Byfield delayed, kept the puck himself and snapped a shot off the back bar and in, past Seattle goaltender Nikke Kokko, for an early 1-0 advantage for the Kings.
Byfield doubled his output later in the opening period with another solo effort, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at the first intermission. On a similar play, Byfield again chipped the puck to himself off the wall, around a defender, to create a breakaway. Byfield deked to his forehand and finessed a shot back against the grain, high on the glove side and in for his 22nd goal of the season and the two-goal advantage.
The Kings extended their lead to three goals midway through the second period, as the second line struck again. Forward Trevor Moore used a quick release from the slot to snap his shot past Kokko and in for his 14th goal of the season. Forward Alex Laferriere collected the only assist on the play, his 40th point of the season, with both players moving to +3 for the game, alongside Byfield, as well as defensemen Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson.
Seattle scored twice inside the first eight minutes of the third period, pulling to within a single goal.
First, defenseman Adam Larsson got the hosts on the board just 1:53 into the third period, as his shot from the left point got through lots of traffic in front, as well as Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg, to move the hosts within 3-1. Forward Frederick Gaudreau then made it 3-2 with a tap-in goal at the back post, which prompted a timeout from Kings Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith, as the Los Angeles lead dwindled down to one.
Los Angeles found an insurance tally midway through the third period, restoring a multi-goal advantage. Moore sprung a 2-on-1 rush in transition, led by Anze Kopitar. The captain fed forward Adrian Kempe through the slot and the Swedish winger buried his team-leading 35th goal of the season from the right-hand circle, giving the Kings a 4-2 lead.
The Kraken again pulled back within a goal late in the third period, with forward Bobby McMann getting on the board for the hosts, before forward Alex Laferriere sealed the team with an empty-net goal to bring the game to a final score of 5-3.
Hear from Moore, Byfield and Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith after tonight’s win and playoff clinch.
Quinton Byfield
Trevor Moore
On the Kings clinching a playoff spot with tonight’s win
It’s awesome. It was dicey there for a while, but I’m really proud of our group for sticking together, believing in ourselves and going on this run.
On seeing Anze Kopitar get one last opportunity to compete in the postseason
We have a lot of competitive guys in here who wanted to make it, but it’s definitely a bump, like we want to send Kopi off with a playoff run. We owe that much, the organization owes him that much, so we’re happy we were able to do it.
On Quinton Byfield’s two goals tonight
I think you saw it against Edmonton, big assignment for him and us, playing against Connor and them. So, to be able to go do that and then come out tonight and still play defensively, like you said, coming out of the d-zone, score a couple of big goals, I think that he’s been awesome. He’s a big player for us.
On his line with Byfield and Laferriere and the evolution of that trio
We’re getting more and more comfortable and, like I said, our whole group, but we’re three really competitive guys. When things aren’t going as well for us, we’re determined to turn it around and I think that’s a good quality.
D.J. Smith
On the team clinching a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
It’s been a climb, for sure. It probably didn’t look very good a while ago. Credit to the guys, the leadership Kopi, Dewey, Juice, Mikey, Eddie, they’ve played playoff hockey for a while now and it’s allowed us this opportunity. Now, we’ll see what happens here the rest of the way and maybe we could climb another spot.
On overcoming a six-point deficit over the last month
Yeah, it didn’t look good, maybe, but a lot of credit to guys like Wright, he comes in and adds a lot of speed and Jo. I think Q’s line in general have been good for a long time, they play against the other team’s top lines and tonight, they go off. So, it’s been a lot of good performances. Then, clearly, Forsy. When your goalie gets hot like that down the stretch, it gives you a chance.
On seeing Anze Kopitar get one more opportunity to play in the postseason
Well, I think that’s that had a lot to do with it too, as guys were playing for him, but he’s played well. Let’s not discount the fact that he’s played really well. He gets one more chance to play at home and now we got to get ourselves ready for whoever we’re playing and give ourselves a chance.
On his message to the team after tonight’s win
We kept talking about move the chains. We were at the three yard line and it looked like we’re having a tough time getting it in there. We found a way. Now the pressure comes off and now just kind of play that same way every night. I don’t think people are going to expect us right now to get a bunch done, but we’re going to be a tough out. We’re going to play real hard.
Notes –
– Forward Quinton Byfield (2-0=2) scored his 21st goal of the season to open the scoring at Climate Pledge Arena this evening before burying his 22nd of the year later in the first period. In doing so, Byfield secured his fifth consecutive multi-point road game (6-4=10), dating back to March 16 at the New York Rangers.
– Byfield is the first Kings skater to extend such a streak to five games since Luc Robitaille (4-6=10 in 5 GP) in the 1992-93 campaign. Byfield and Robitaille are joined by Wayne Gretzky (4x), Marcel Dionne (3x), and Bernie Nicholls (2x) as the five Kings skaters to have recorded multiple points in five or more consecutive road games in a single season.
– Forward Trevor Moore (1-1=2) netted his 13th goal of the year before earning his 17th assist of the season. Moore’s fourth multi-point game of the 2025-26 season was forged with his seventh goal and 10th and 11th points (7-4=11) in his 19th career game against the Seattle Kraken. The Thousand Oaks, Calif., native joined defenseman Cody Ceci in facing the Seattle Kraken for the 19th occasion in their careers, tying Rasmus Andersson (19 GP) and Evan Bouchard (19 GP) for the second most all-time behind Brett Kulak (20 GP)
– Moore’s goal marked his 231st of his now-232 points (102-130=232) as a member of the Kings, breaking a tie with Mike Corrigan (106-124=230) for sole possession of the sixth-most points by an undrafted skater in Kings franchise history.
– Forward Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) scored his 35th goal of the season tonight, extending his point streak at Climate Pledge Arena to a fifth game (3-3=6), dating back to Dec. 16, 2023.
– Forward Alex Laferriere (1-1=2) notched his 21st assist of the season before scoring his 20th goal of the campaign to establish a new career-high in goals. Laferriere’s fourth multi-point game of the season included his 40th and 41st points of the year (20-21=41); following his 42-point campaign (19-23=42) last season, the native of Chatham, N.J., becomes the fourth American-born skater to record multiple 40-point campaigns before turning 25 years old. Laferriere is joined by Gary Sargent (2x, 1976-77–1977-78), Jimmy Carson (2x, 1986-87–1987-88), and Dustin Brown (3x, 2006-07–2008-09)
– Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) posted his 25th assist of the season, marking his 20th campaign with at least as many. Kopitar is the 12th player to record 20 different 25-assist seasons in NHL history.
– Kopitar skated in his 1,519th career regular-season contest tonight, breaking a tie with Ray Bourque (1,518 GP with Boston) for sole possession of the seventh-most games played with a single franchise in NHL history. Only six players have played more games with a single franchise than Kopitar has with the Kings: Shane Doan (1,540 GP with Arizona), Alex Delvecchio (1,550 GP with Detroit), Nicklas Lidstrom (1,564 GP with Detroit), Alex Ovechkin (1,572 GP with Washington), Patrick Marleau (1,607 GP with San Jose), and Gordie Howe (1,687 GP with Detroit).
– Defenseman Joel Edmundson (0-1=1) further increased his career-best season with his 21st assist of the year on Laferriere’s empty-net goal.
– Goaltender Anton Forsberg made 28 saves on 31 of the Kraken’s shots on goal to earn his fifth straight victory dating back to April 1 against Utah, his 16th win of the season in total.
– With tonight’s victory and Nashville’s regulation loss against San Jose, the LA Kings have officially clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a fifth consecutive year. The Kings are the fourth team in the Pacific Division and eighth in the Western Conference to secure their spot in the postseason.
The Kings will return to action tomorrow evening at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, as they visit the Vancouver Canucks for a 7 PM puck drop.
