The Kings continued their streaking on Tuesday night making it four wins in a row and nine wins in their last 10 games when they defeated the New York Rangers 3-1. Winning in more ways than one, the Kings found a pair of power play goals against the Rangers to be the difference on this night. The two points earned on Tuesday officially moves the Kings two points clear of the Edmonton Oilers for the second seed in the Pacific Division with both teams now having played 70 games.
It was an action packed first period, but no offense resulted from either side. In an opening period where the Kings held the majority of possession, they also had 24 shot attempts but only eight shots found the four-by-six net. Impressively, the Kings also held the Rangers to just two shots in the period.
The scoring got started in the second period, but it was the visitors who found the back of the net first. Originally not called a goal on the ice, after the puck went through Darcy Kuemper’s crease and over to JT Miller, Miller quickly sent the puck back against the grain and towards the net. As Kuemper recovered and tried to get back into position, he kicked the puck out of his crease to relieve the pressure for the time being. Then, following a whistle 32 seconds later the play went under review and Toronto overturned the non-goal call to a good goal 2:10 into the period. The Kings responded midway through the period to even the game. Coming on their second power play of the game, the top unit played with a more urgent and aggressive mindset resulting in Anze Kopitar finding Andrei Kuzmenko, who found Kevin Fiala on the back door with a no look pass. Fiala’s tap-in was his 27th goal of the season while Kuzmenko made it three straight games with a point (2-2=4). The Kings then took the lead late in the second period, scoring their second power-play goal of the period. This time coming from the second unit, Trevor Moore rifled a shot across the body of Igor Shesterkin resulting in a big rebound on the weak-side. Placed perfectly was Phillip Danault who kicked the puck to his stick and potted the puck into an empty net for his seventh goal of the season with 2:12 to go in the second period. Danault’s power-play goal was his first point on the man advantage this season.
The Rangers threw everything at Kuemper in the third period including their bodies, but they couldn’t even the score. Kuemper stood tall stopping all eight third period shots and 23 of 24 shots in the game. Fiala sealed the victory with an empty net goal in the game’s final minute.
With the win, the Kings extend their home streak without losing in regulation to 15 games (12-0-3), improving their NHL-best home record on the season to 26-3-4. Kuemper’s record now sits at 25-9-7 on season as he too extended his home point streak to 15 games, going 14-0-1.
