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Kings show promise in season-opening loss, but there is plenty of room for improvement

Remember hockey? Remember the Kings?

Unable to crack the 24-team playoff field assembled last summer to finish the pandemic-delayed 2019-20 season, the Kings had to wait more than 10 months to resume a rebuilding process that was gaining traction just as the NHL came to a halt. They returned to the ice on Thursday believing the worst of their struggles was over, and that they could compete for a postseason berth in the new West Division after powerhouses Vegas, Colorado, and St. Louis.

They’ll have to wait a little longer to gauge their progress. The Kings’ 4-3 overtime loss to Minnesota was a mishmash of good, energetic goals and appallingly bad passes, of flashy speed from newcomer Andreas Athanasiou and veteran Jeff Carter and dispiriting defensive plays that shouldn’t have happened, even in a season opener that followed a 10-month break.