Kings 5, Capitals 2: Kempe Twice, First Win of the Year

October 20, 2026 - Washington - It was 2-0 Washington with 33 seconds left in the first. Adrian Kempe took Artemi Panarin's pass on a 2-on-1 and snapped it from the left dot. Thirty-one seconds later Panarin found a loose puck after Mikey Anderson forced Jonny Brodzinski along the left wall and beat Logan Thompson from the left circle. Capital One Arena went to the room 2-2. Tom Wilson told NHL.com it looked like they were getting out of the first in pretty good shape, and then those two flipped the whole night.

The Los Angeles Kings beat the Washington Capitals 5-2. Los Angeles is 1-4-2, the first win under Peter Laviolette. Washington is 5-4-0 after two in a row. Shots were 32-26 Washington. Erik Gustafsson, Cole Hutson, and Jonny Brodzinski are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Kempe scored twice. Panarin had a goal and two assists. Gustafsson scored on the power play. Scott Laughton hit the empty net. Alex Laferriere had two assists. Darcy Kuemper stopped 30 of 32. Ryan Leonard and Hutson scored. Thompson stopped 21 of 25.

Quinton Byfield left midway through the first with an upper-body injury. The Associated Press recap had him at 2:44. Laviolette said he will be evaluated Wednesday.

2-0, then 31 seconds that changed the building

Leonard opened it at 9:25. He entered the zone, cut across the high slot, and snapped it through a screen. "All I had to do was hit the net," he told NHL.com. 1-0.

Hutson made it 2-0 at 18:35 on the power play. He eluded Laferriere at the blue line, walked down the slot, and snapped one from the edge of the right circle.

Kempe answered at 19:27. Panarin tied it at 19:58. The NHL recap said the Kings had scored one goal in each of their past four games. They scored two in 31 seconds.

Kuemper kept it tied in the second. He robbed Jakob Chychrun at the right post during 4-on-4 at 10:51. Kuemper told NHL.com he saw him on the backdoor and had to get across.

A kill, then Gustafsson end to end

Washington got a power play with the game still 2-2 and did nothing with it. Los Angeles went the other way. Gustafsson went end to end at 7:28 of the third, split two defenders at the blue line, and snapped it off Thompson's glove. 3-2. The NHL recap called it his first NHL goal since Jan. 12, 2025. Spencer Carbery told NHL.com that sequence was a pivotal moment.

Kempe scored again at 11:35, at the right post off Panarin behind the net. 4-2. Laughton closed it at 18:15 into the empty net. 5-2. The AP recap called it Los Angeles's highest-scoring game of the season.

Dylan Strome told NHL.com Washington controlled play and got through the neutral zone, and the Kings were opportunistic. Kuemper, who played in Washington from 2022-24, told NHL.com losing streaks get magnified when they sit at the start of the year. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif were already out, the AP recap said.

AthX Engine on a 5-2 that started 0-2

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Kempe at 11.60 (two goals, six shots). Panarin is 10.80. Laferriere is 7.30. Hutson is 6.30. Chychrun is 6.00. Laughton is 5.80. Gustafsson is 5.70. Kuemper's win, 30 saves, and two goals against land at 12.60. Thompson is 3.60.

Los Angeles's team line is 21.00. Washington's 2-5 floors at 0.00.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a Kings group that finally scored in bunches, and for a Capitals club that was 2-0 in its own building until the last minute of the first. They are not the same number.

Track Kempe, Panarin, Kuemper, and both clubs on the marketplace. Los Angeles visits the Islanders on Thursday. Buffalo visits Washington on Saturday.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com recap, NHL.com scoreboard, ESPN NHL scoreboard. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020144. Information only; not financial advice.*