RALEIGH — The Hurricanes were inches away from the tying goal.
Instead, it ended up in their own net.
Taylor Hall’s pass to Eric Robinson on an odd-man chance rolled off the latter’s stick, and the visiting Kings went the other way and got a second goal from Kevin Fiala in Los Angeles’ 4-2 win Saturday at Lenovo Center.
“It slips under my stick,” Robinson said. “I had a chance to tie the game. It happens a lot in hockey — you see a good chance at (one) end, and then the other team capitalizes at the other end.”
The planets seemed aligned against Carolina all night, most notably when a missed penalty allowed the Kings to enter the first intermission tied instead of behind.
Carolina defenseman Dmitry Orlov circled the Hurricanes net with the puck but was hooked to the ice by Warren Foegele. The puck slid right to Los Angeles center Phillip Danault, and his shot beat Frederik Andersen (22 saves) to tie the game at 17:57.
It was one of several missed calls throughout the night, including Juha Jaaska being boarded away from the puck in the first, which led to his first career fight, and a pair of quick whistles — one what initially looked like a Hurricanes goal and another when LA goalie Darcy Kuemper failed to glove a shot but earned a whistle anyway.
“The bouncers certainly didn’t go our way,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.
Carolina also battled an illness that has been circulating through the team. No players missed the game — Sebastian Aho, Hall and Jack Roslovic all missed previous games due to it — but several were clearly battling the ailment.
“It seems like it happens at least once a year throughout the team; you spend so much time together,” Robinson said. “Good on the guys who have been battling through it.”
The Hurricanes got on the board first when a defensive play by Hall led to a goal.
Hall stole the puck from Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and rushed up ice for a 2-on-1. His attempted pass to Jesperi Kotkaniemi was blocked, but Carolina maintained possession and worked the puck to the point.
Sean Walker took a shot, and Kotkaniemi redirected it in front of Kuemper (26 saves) for his 11th goal and a 1-0 Hurricanes lead at 15:22 of the first.
After Danault’s tying goal late in the first, the Kings took the lead early in the second period.
Walker broke up an LA odd-man rush with a sliding block, but the puck remained to the left of Andersen. Kings winger Trevor Moore shoveled it over Andersen’s arm 63 seconds into the second period for a 2-1 lead.
Los Angeles doubled its lead with 3:02 left in the middle frame when Fiala shrugged off Orlov, cruised across the front of the net and waited out Andersen to shoot the puck into a mostly vacant net for a 3-1 Kings lead.
Carolina cut the lead to one early in the third period when Brent Burns sprung Robinson on a partial breakaway, and the Hurricanes winger snapped a shot past Kuemper at 5:44 of the third to make it 3-2 Kings. It was the career-high 12th goal of Robinson’s season and Burns’ 900th career point.
“To see 900 points, it’s pretty crazy,” Robinson said.
Jordan Martinook hit the post on the next shift, and Carolina poured on the pressure in the third, out-chancing LA 15-2 with a 7-0 chance in high-danger chances, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. But Carolina’s best chance to tie it slid off Robinson’s stick, and with it went the game.
“Yeah, it definitely sucks,” Robinson said.
Notes: Andrei Svechnikov did not play due to an upper-body injury. … Orlov did not play again after the Kings’ final goal, with Brind’Amour saying postgame, “He had a tough night, let’s just say that.” … Mikko Rantanen had a game-high 11 shot attempts, including four shots on goal.
