LOS ANGELES — Seemingly countless penalties interrupted the rhythm of the game, but the Kings got revenge on their Southern California rivals, the Anaheim Ducks, who beat LA in their most recent meeting before Thursday.
The Kings won 6-1 and scored three power-play goals on six attempts. Five different Kings tallied goals: Quinton Byfield, Anže Kopitar, Kevin Fiala, Alex Laferriere and Jordan Spence. Fiala scored twice, bringing him up to 32 on the season. Adrian Kempe and Andrei Kuzmenko both had three assists.
Fiala attributed Kempe’s strong outing to his “dad strength,” following the birth of his first child.
“It was a strong game from him, dad strong, some energy from that, for sure. It’s nice to see him feeling good,” Fiala said.
The Kings surrendered four power plays of their own, but killed off every one of them. Anaheim’s lone goal came from Cutter Gauthier, his 20th of the year, but he couldn’t celebrate for long, as 33 seconds later, Kopitar scored his 20th goal of the season.
Head coach Jim Hiller praised Kuzmenko’s distributing ability, as the trade-deadline acquisition now has 14 points in 18 games as an LA King. The Kings rolled with a five-forward power-play against the Ducks.
“[Kuzmenko] is able, individually, to open lanes on the ice,” Hiller said. “He’s got the ability to shift, move quickly and adjust his body. So maybe there wasn’t something there, but he knows where it is, and he’s able to make the play.”
Darcy Kuemper won his 29th game of the season, now posting 15 straight starts with two or fewer goals allowed.
The Kings are 38-0-2 when scoring at least three goals and now stand 30-5-4 on home ice.
Ducks goalie Lukáš Dostál dominated the Kings when the teams faced in February, but LA seemed to figure out the talented netminder.
The win also reinstated LA’s four-point lead over the Edmonton Oilers for second in the Pacific Division.
Talk of Troy reporter Kasey Kazliner was at the game and analyzed the rout on Skate of Thrones, TOT’s LA Kings podcast.