The Kings earned another two points on Thursday defeating the Utah Hockey Club 4-1. With the victory, the Kings back it back-to-back games closing out three-game season series sweeps.
It was a disjointed first period for the Kings and a period that they were lucky to come out tied. Outshot 16-3, the Kings escaped the period tied 0-0 thanks to a strong display of goaltending by Darcy Kuemper and an overturned Utah goal due to offsides.
The second period was an improvement of play from the Kings, but Utah still controlled the pace of play. While the Kings needed some time to find their game, a goal from Adrian Kempe on a peculiar play helped do that. Driving the net on a line rush, Kempe was forced into the Utah crease by Logan Cooley. As Kempe neared the crease, he drew an interference penalty while Andrei Kuzmenko put a shot on net. As Kempe got into the crease, Cooley dragged down the team’s leading goalscorer and into Karel Vejmelka. Simultaneously, Vejmelka failed to play the puck cleanly and with Kempe siding into the goalie, the puck ended up in the back of the net. Kempe was credited with his 33rd goal 6:56 into the period. Next, Utah would strike back to even the game with 7:39 remaining in the period. Beating Kuemper with a perfectly placed wrist shot from a sharp angle after rounding the Kings net, Lawson Crouse netted his 11th goal of the season.
Knotted up at 1-1 entering the third period, the Kings netted a pair of goals 44 seconds apart during a 4-on-4 session. Both goals coming off of misplays by Utah, the Kings happily took advantage of one giveaway and a decision to not play the puck. First scoring off of a Utah turnover, defenseman John Marino accidentally passed the puck to a wide open Kevin Fiala in front of the Utah net. Fiala received the pass and quickly ripped a wrist shot past the glove of Vejmelka for his 29th tally of the season. Seconds later, following a defensive zone clear by Phillip Danault, Vejmelka opted to not come out and play the puck despite it being the right move. Trevor Moore instead gathered the puck in the Utah zone and went in on the Utah tender alone. Deking and going five hole with the backhand, Moore netted his 18th goal of the season and a goal for the third consecutive game. Then, leading late in the game, Drew Doughty extended the Kings lead to 4-1 when he pocketed a 200-plus foot chip shot from behind the Kings goal line into an empty Utah net. The goal for Doughty gives him 160 in his career and moves the future Hall of Famer within one goal of tying Rob Blake for the most goals by a defenseman in Kings history (161). Utah added a power play goal with 26.5 seconds remaining in regulation to make it 4-2, but that was it for the offense in this game, giving the Kings a third straight win.
Kuemper stopped 28 of 30 shots, earning his 27th win of the season.
