By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
New year, new team.
Last April, the Flyers were held to six goals in a six-game series against the Washington Capitals. In the second period of Friday night's season opener in Los Angeles, they came within two of matching that total.
A four-goal second period, two of them from Sean Couturier, lifted the Flyers in their season opener over the Kings, 4-2.
The first period featured another rough start from the Flyers. The Kings controlled play early and took the game's first eight shots on goal, including a few testers for Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth made 10 saves in the first period to keep the Kings off the board.
When the Flyers finally got their first shot with just under seven minutes to play in the period, that seemed to energize them for a brief stretch, as they generated a few good scoring chances on the Kings and earned the game's first power play. Through one, the Kings held the 10-4 shot advantage in a scoreless game.
The Flyers came out a much better team in the second and at 3:55 scored the first goal of the season from the most unlikely of sources. Boyd Gordon, signed as more of a penalty kill and face-off specialist for the fourth line, took a centering pass from Nick Cousins and roofed it over Jeff Zatkoff for the first goal of the season.
Just 48 seconds later, the Flyers were on the board again. Travis Konecny threw a shot on goal that Zatkoff stopped but the rebound was left for Couturier who scored. Konecny picked up an assist for his first NHL point. Shayne Gostisbehere also assisted on the goal.
Konecny and Couturier teamed up again at 12:04. This time, a great feed from Konecny was buried by Couturier for his second goal of the game. Konecny picked up his second assist and Jake Voracek got on the scoresheet with an assist as well.
With just under two minutes to play in the period, it was the other rookie's turn to get on the scoresheet. Ivan Provorov fired a shot from center point that purposely missed the net. Mark Streit was going to the net on the play and took the bounce off the boards and banked a shot off the back of Zatkoff for another goal.
The Kings did manage to get one back 49 seconds later as a blast from the point by Drew Doughty beat a screened Neuvirth.
The Flyers outshot the Kings in the second period, 21-9, to take a 25-19 shot lead after 40 minutes.
The Kings got on the board again early in the third. A point shot by Brayden McNabb deflected off of Streit's stick and beat Neuvirth to cut the lead to two at 3:01 of the period.
The Flyers managed to survive a power play chance for the Kings midway through the period and Neuvirth stood tall the rest of the way, making 22 saves on the night.
The Flyers are back in action on Saturday night when they face the Arizona Coyotes at 9 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Flyers | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Kings | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- No Scoring
2nd Period
- PHI Boyd Gordon (1) (Nick Cousins, Brandon Manning) 3:55
- PHI Sean Couturier (1) (Travis Konecny, Shayne Gostisbehere) 4:43
- PHI Couturier (2) (Konecny, Jake Voracek) 12:04
- PHI Mark Streit (1) (Ivan Provorov, Cousins) 18:03
- LA Drew Doughty (1) (Anze Kopitar) 18:52
3rd Period
- LA Brayden McNabb (1) (Alec Martinez, Dwight King) 3:01
Game Statistics
| Flyers | Kings | |
| Shots | 30 | 24 |
| Power Plays | 0/2 | 0/2 |
| Hits | 29 | 32 |
| Faceoff % | 38% | 62% |
| Giveaways | 11 | 10 |
| Takeaways | 2 | 1 |
| Blocked Shots | 15 | 12 |
| Penalty Minutes | 6 | 6 |
