ANAHEIM, Calif. — There are hairy moments on any night for an NHL goalie and on this momentous embryonic one for Erik Portillo, there were two among the several faced by the Los Angeles Kings netminder that went above and beyond the standard one typically faces.
Take when Portillo’s skate blade became an issue midway through the third period of a one-goal Kings lead he’s protecting against the Anaheim Ducks. The repair job by equipment manager Darren Granger took longer than both anticipated, with Portillo needing to retreat to the visiting locker room at Honda Center and David Rittich having to come in cold against a Ducks team making its push for a tie in the Black Friday matinee.
The position itself is the most stressful in hockey. Now add in a sudden exit and a delayed return in your very first NHL game, a potential victory just 9 ½ minutes away. “But they did an incredible job to get it fixed,” Portillo said. “It’s not easy when it’s jammed up like that.”
The second hairy moment was more significant. There were the Kings trying to get the puck out of their end with the Ducks having pulled John Gibson for a sixth skater and a failed clearing attempt suddenly appearing on Troy Terry’s stick in the slot with nothing between him and the 6-foot-6 Portillo with 15 seconds left.
“I don’t think you have time to think,” Portillo said. “You just got to compete. Find a way to get the job done.”
The lanky Swede stretched his 210-pound frame behind him and managed to get his right skate in the way of Terry’s backhand try even after the Ducks’ leading scorer drew him to the ice. Vladislav Gavrikov, in a mad rush, dove over to block a follow-up attempt by Terry.
“Ports played brilliant, I would say,” Gavrikov said, owning up to his failed clear. “Taking that one (away). And then I just tried to cover the rest of that part of the net. It worked out perfectly. Ports got the first win. We got a win. Everyone’s happy.”
The Kings squeezed out a 2-1 Freeway Faceoff win thanks to Portillo’s efforts against the Ducks, who would have been victorious on many other days with the kind of game Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller called Anaheim’s best among all those he’s scouted this year. But in that moment and numerous before, Portillo came up big and gave L.A. consecutive wins for the first time since Nov. 4-5 at Nashville and Minnesota.
In a season where the Kings’ maddening inconsistency was reflected earlier this week in a blowout loss at San Jose and a dominating home win over Winnipeg two nights later, it was a 24-year-old potential “goalie of the future” that gave them a much-needed lift now.
As he began his postgame address, Hiller playfully joked with the media throng, wondering where the Portillo questions were after being asked often about when he would play and then saying of his goalie’s mid-game removal of the net, “Well, we didn’t like him, so we thought we’d take him out and give him a drink of water. Catch a breath.”
Turning more serious, Hiller said, “I thought he maybe looked a little nervous early, but boy did he get himself together in a hurry. There’s not much to say. He was fantastic. He was big. That’s the one thing I noticed. He was big. His legs are long and quick. Couldn’t have had a better debut.”
The Kings left it to goalie coach Mike Buckley to decide when Portillo was ready to go under the microscope after backing up Rittich four times since his call-up from AHL Ontario while Darcy Kuemper remains out with an apparent groin injury. With another game Saturday against Ottawa immediately on deck, Hiller said Portillo was getting one or the other.
Portillo, whose strong season as an AHL rookie backed up the Kings trading for the former Buffalo Sabres’ draft pick in March 2023, did wonder when it would be his turn.
“But I trust the goalie department here,” he told The Athletic on Friday. “They’re incredible at preparing for – well, they prepared me since day one for this moment and for even more. I put all my trust in them that they’re going to put me in at the right time and I’m going to be ready when it’s time.”
This was not like Wednesday when the Kings’ suffocation of the NHL-leading Jets required Rittich to just make the saves expected of him. The Ducks tested Portillo. Olen Zellweger had the first grade-A chance in the opening period. Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano had great looks. Mason McTavish could have scored down low. Trevor Zegras did hit the post off the rush. None of those pucks got by Portillo, though.
Just one did, a rebound goal by Ryan Strome that opened the scoring after Strome got an initial tip on Drew Helleson’s point shot. But the Kings knew that Portillo was up to the task. That was further proven in the third when he made critical stops on Cutter Gauthier and Sam Colangelo right after Alex Laferriere snapped a 1-1 tie.
Alex Laferriere puts the Kings into the lead in the third with his 10th goal of the year!#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/o6Faa2SB4S
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 29, 2024
“He kept us in it,” said Alex Turcotte, who tied the game at 10:46 of the second off another Anaheim turnover. “He made a lot of huge saves for us. I’d say he’s the main reason we won this game. Happy to have him and we’re really happy for him.”
Added Gavrikov: “He showed up right away. The first minute, he made a couple huge saves for us. He showed us he was ready to play, and he gave us that momentum that we needed.”
Confidence was the word Gavrikov and Hiller used in describing what Portillo gave them. The Kings can look unbeatable some nights and eminently beatable on others, which reflects in them not winning more than two in a row at any time. But they’re also sitting with a 13-8-3 record and in playoff position after American Thanksgiving – a key landmark for teams — even with a mixed record against upper-tier teams.
Portillo delivered a rarity for them this season. The Kings were outplayed but their goalie essentially won this game for them in his first NHL start with his parents, Malin and Andrés, in the seats after they flew in from Sweden on Thursday.
“Some guys get in that environment, and they freeze,” said Ducks coach Greg Cronin, who hadn’t seen the former University of Michigan standout play. “He was terrific. He’s a big kid, he was aggressive in the net, he handled the puck well. He did a heck of a job.”
Like the Kings, the Ducks have been trying to generate some lasting momentum. Their play has improved from a ragged start to the season in a 5-2-1 stretch before Friday’s game, with road wins at Dallas, Chicago and Seattle mixed in. John Gibson took the loss, but he’s started out 4-1-1 with a .922 save percentage since recovering from a September appendectomy to form a potent tandem in net with Lukas Dostal, their star in October.
The Kings have higher expectations to meet, but the Ducks’ goal is to take a meaningful step forward after six mostly woeful seasons.
“I think what’s more encouraging is that we are doing it more consistently,” Strome said. “You can look at a game-by-game basis, it could be good any given night, but I think we have strung together, maybe six or seven games we are pretty happy with. So, we are starting to follow the framework of the way we are supposed to play and what makes us successful.
Back in their own rink Saturday, the Kings have a winnable contest against the equally unpredictable Senators and Rittich will be back in net after stepping in to make two saves in 83 seconds while Portillo had his skate fixed. Hiller acknowledged that “we’ve kind of been treading water a little bit” and that his team needs to be better than it was in Anaheim, though he credited the Kings for wanting their two points in Friday’s “street fight.”
Next week is a light one with just two games, though those are real litmus tests against Dallas and Minnesota. The Kings could easily continue to lean on Rittich and will get Kuemper back in the mix when he’s ready.
But Portillo earned another chance with his performance, even if it’s more likely that his time comes in 2025-26 unless injury or ineffectiveness creeps further into the L.A. net.
“We’ll see where Kuemps’ injury takes him,” Hiller said. “But, yeah, you’re pretty proud of what Erik did tonight. He put on as good a goaltending performance as we’ve seen this year and so you hope that he can build on that the next time he gets out.”
The Kings have cycled through several goalies since cutting ties with the iconic Jonathan Quick. While they entered the year with around-the-block veterans Kuemper and Rittich, their system now has legitimate prospects in the up-and-coming Carter George and Hampton Slukynsky. Portillo started the organization’s build-up in the crease and his time to show he can succeed in the NHL came Friday.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be honest,” he told The Athletic. “That’s what it is. It feels great to get it done today for the team. Wasn’t pretty by goalie technique standards, I think, but we found a way to battle and that’s important too. You got to find a way to win games.”
(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
