On October 14, 1967 at the Long Beach Convention Center, the Los Angeles Kings played their inaugural game in the National Hockey League. Their opponents, the Philadelphia Flyers, jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period with goals by Bill Sutherland and Ed Hoekstra.
At 3:20 of the second period, Brian Kilrea finally got the fans to their feet, scoring the first goal in franchise history. Kilrea put one past Philadelphia goalie Doug Favell with help from Jacques Lemieux and Ted Irvine.
Los Angeles would score three unanswered in the third period, including an empty-net goal by Kilrea, for the 4-2 win. Wayne Rutledge was in net for the Kings, making 14 saves on just 16 shots.
For Kilrea, those were the first two of just three goals he would score in the NHL. Brian played a single game with the Detroit Red Wings in 1957-58 and 25 with the Kings in 1967-68. The rest of his playing career was spent in the minors. However, he went on to a legendary career as head coach of the Ottawa 67’s in the OHL.