Avs, Kings bring veteran leadership into season opener

When the Los Angeles Kings open their 2025-26 season against the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, they won't be sitting on any leads.

The Avalanche will likely ice another high-scoring team this season and the Kings saw how quickly a lead can dissolve in their final preseason game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday.

Los Angeles led 4-0 at the midway point of the third period before giving up four straight goals. The Kings then had to kill a two-minute slashing penalty on Drew Doughty in overtime before Kevin Fiala scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to give Los Angeles a 5-4 win.

"There's two ways to look at it," Kings coach Jim Hiller said afterward. "We could have locked that thing down and felt really good about ourselves, or we could play like we did for a little bit and start panicking and realize, 'Whoa, this isn't how we have to do it here starting Tuesday.' In the end, we're happy we won."

Kings forward Anze Kopitar will be playing in his final season opener. The 38-year-old announced last month that he's retiring after this season, his 20th in the NHL.

Los Angeles has been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers the past four seasons, so the Kings are hoping some minor tweaks to their roster can get them over the hump.

Among the veteran newcomers are defenseman Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin and forwards Joel Armia and Corey Perry, who turned 40 earlier in May.

Los Angeles forward Alex Laferriere has an undisclosed injury and his status is unknown for opening night. Laferriere had 19 goals and 23 assists in 77 games for the Kings last season, his second in the NHL.

"He's just not 100 percent right now," Hiller said. "We'll see what the next few days bring, a couple days, but he's not a guarantee."

The Avalanche dropped their final two preseason games to finish 4-2.

The biggest offseason addition for Colorado was bringing in veteran defenseman Brent Burns, who is set to play in his 22nd NHL season. Burns, 40, has played in 925 consecutive games, the longest current streak and fourth longest in NHL history.

Gabriel Landeskog is also set to play in his first regular-season game since March 10, 2022. The 32-year-old forward missed three years because of a knee injury before returning in the first round of the playoffs last April.

Tristen Nielsen had helped his chances of making the team by scoring in the 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Nielsen, who played the past four seasons in the American Hockey League, scored in every preseason game in which he suited up. But Nielsen was returned to AHL Colorado on Saturday, according to RotoWire.

"(The Avalanche) give every player an opportunity, no matter what deal you're on or anything like that," Nielsen said. "And they have no problem taking the best guy. And I think that's huge for me. I also have heard nothing but good things about the guys."

The Avalanche could be short another defenseman after Sean Behrens left the game on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. Behrens missed all of last season with a knee injury.

--Field Level Media