RECAP: Panthers 4, Kings 2

QUEBEC CITY – The Florida Panthers are ready for the real thing.

Closing out their preseason, the defending Stanley Cup champions secured a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings in a neutral-site matchup at Videotron Center in Quebec City on Saturday.

On Oct. 8, they’ll kick off the regular season against the Boston Bruins in Sunrise.

“We got through fairly healthy, which is a good thing,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the preseason. “I think structurally we have the idea of ​​what we want to do. … In terms of the game, we have to hit to be good. We’re a very physical team. With that, every part of our game has a better chance of being executed.

A native of Quebec, Phillip Danault made the home crowd proud when he tipped in a point shot from Vladislav Gavrikov to give Los Angeles an early 1-0 lead at 6:03 of the first period.

With the Panthers on the power play, Aleksander Barkov evened the score soon after when he finished off a beautiful give-and-go with Carter Verhaeghe in transition by tucking the puck just past Darcy Kuemper’s outstretched pad off his backhand to make it 1-1 at 9:07.

It might be early, but the captain already looks to be in top form.

“It was a great experience,” Barkov said of playing in Quebec City. “I know it’s preseason and sometimes you maybe don’t want to fly those four hours somewhere, but for this one, for sure. I’ll remember this for a long time.”