Kempe scores winner, Kings rally past Panthers in 3rd period

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings scored twice in the third period for a 2-1 comeback win against the Florida Panthers at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday.

Adrian Kempe scored for the fourth straight game, Samuel Helenius got his first career NHL goal, and the Kings (26-14-5) won for the second time in their past six games (2-4-0). Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves, allowing one goal or fewer for the sixth time in his past seven starts.

“It was a big third,” Los Angeles forward Kevin Fiala said. “One down, we didn’t have much (offense). They didn’t give us much. We just kept grinding, shooting pucks to the net.”

Evan Rodrigues had a power-play goal and Spencer Knight made 26 saves for the Panthers (28-18-3). It was the second game of a back-to-back for Florida after winning 5-2 at the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

“I think we played pretty good most of the game,” said Panthers center Anton Lundell, who had an assist. “Just in the third period, they got a couple big goals, and we couldn’t really answer.”

Helenius got his first goal in 25 games when he backhanded the puck into an open net with Knight face down on the ice to tie it 1-1 at 6:41 of the third.

“There’s few things that are better than seeing a guy score his first goal,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “It’s a special moment. You work long and hard to get to the NHL, then get to score a goal.”

Hiller praised Tanner Jeannot’s effort in attacking the rebound of Jordan Spence’s shot for helping set it up for Helenius.

“Saw Jeannot at the net, presence strong, and then Sammy picking up the loose change,” Hiller said.

Kempe was at the top of the crease to tip Fiala’s shot up and in at 13:12 to take a 2-1 lead. It was Kempe’s fourth goal and fifth point during the streak.

“I think it was like a playoff game out there, and I don’t think in the playoffs there’s so many nice plays to be made,” Fiala said. “Simplified things, and we got the job done.”

The Kings were able to hang around long enough to figure things out on offense because of another strong showing from Kuemper. He has allowed two goals or fewer in 14 of his 24 starts this season.

“I’d have to think back to when he wasn’t consistent this year, you know what I mean?” Hiller said. “He’s just played very, very well. … I think the fit’s worked out really well, and happy to see him back at the top of his game.”

Florida went up 1-0 at 7:27 of the second period when Rodrigues scored his third power-play goal of the season. Mackie Samoskevich’s shot was wide of the net and caromed off the boards to Lundell at the top of the crease for a backhand pass to Rodrigues, who shot into an open goal.

“I kind of got the puck from the end boards, and I was able to see that ‘Roddy’ was back post before I got it, and I just got it straight to him,” Lundell said.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice liked the defensive effort from both teams, saying it was good preparation for what the defending Stanley Cup champions can expect to see over the next three months.

“We’ve played hard, battled hard, but we’re going to have a whole bunch of these the rest of the year so got to get used to just scratching and clawing for points,” Maurice said.

NOTES: Kempe got his 30th career game-winning goal, passing Rob Blake for eighth in Kings history. … The Kings are 15-3-1 on home ice, their best start in franchise history. They reached 15 wins in 20 games in 2012-13. … The Panthers were 1-for-2 on the power play. They had been 0-for-9 over their previous four games.