The LA Kings drove to their fifth straight win thanks to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night at the Ball Arena.
The Kings took three points from Anze Kopitar (0-3-3) and two goals each from Phillip Danault and Adrian Kempe in the win. Forward Gabriel Vilardi also scored, while forward Quinton Byfield extended his assist streak to five games.
The Kings took an early lead through Kempe, who buried his 31st goal of the season midway through the first half. Kopitar led a 2-on-1 rush through the neutral zone, drawing the defender towards him and feeding Kempe in the wheelhouse for the one-timer at the back post and the game’s first goal.
The visitors doubled their lead in the last three minutes of the opening period and went into the first break with a 2-0 lead. Kopitar was once again the moderator as he fed Vilardi just outside the crease. Vilardi carved his place high on the blocker side and buried his 21st goal of the season for the two-goal lead.
Colorado got on the board in the second half with just over five minutes remaining through forward Evan Rodrigues. A shot on target from defender Samuel Girard was deflected just under the crossbar by Rodrigues for his 13th goal of the season and the 2-1 win.
LA regained their two-goal lead in under 30 seconds in the third period as Kempe buried his second goal of the night. Kempe, stationed in the low position, took a deflected pass from defender Vladislav Gavrikov into a dangerous area, flipped onto his backhand and defeated Colorado goaltender Alexander Georgiev from close range for his 32nd goal of the season.
However, the Avalanche reduced the deficit to one again when they scored the game’s first goal in special teams. At the start of the third period, MacKinnon was in the lead, slicing into the right circle and shooting through traffic to score his 27th goal of the season to draw the hosts 3-2.
Danault pushed back with a goal of his own shortly after to give the Kings a two-goal lead. On the catch up after Colorado’s power play goal, Danault got a stick on a point shot from defenseman Jordan Spence, who redirected the puck past Georgiev and into the goal. Spence’s assist was his first of the season with the Kings. Danault finished the game within three minutes to play with an empty goal, giving him a multi-goal night.
Hear from Kopitar, Kempe and head coach Todd McLellan after today’s game.
Anze Kopitar
Kopitar speaks to the media after tonight’s W against the Avalanche🔊@LAKings | #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/sFLtpKwzOa
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) March 10, 2023
Adrian Kempe
To today’s victory over Colorado
It was a good win, I thought it was a character gain. We played a solid 60 minutes, a few too many minutes in the penalty area, but I think we were the better team.
About how well Anze Kopitar is playing right now
He’s been playing at this level for 17 years. The puck is going in a little bit more for us right now and maybe that’s the thing that’s showing up a little bit more, but he’s showing up every day and doing the same things. The puck is going in a bit more now for me and the line so that’s a good confidence boost and something we’d like to continue.
A goal early in a half or right after a goal can get you going
It’s huge. When the other team scores, it’s a big momentum change when we can concede straight away. It was huge, Phil made a big one for the team there, we were all pumped up on the bench so that was huge. It shows that all four lines can play against anyone.
At the group’s confidence level at the moment, winner of five straights
It’s safe up there. I think we definitely feel like we can play with the best teams and I think we showed up and really showed that we can play with these teams that have come a long way in the playoffs. The character was really good, although maybe powerplay and PK wasn’t really there, I felt like our 5v5 game was really good lately, it won us games. If we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together here, we’ll have a good track.
Todd McLellan
About what he liked most about the group in today’s win
I thought we were resilient. Everyone contributed, we played at a high pace, you have to against this side, and have excellent goalkeeping when we needed it. We scored a goal in time and when we leave here we’re happy with the group as a whole, not just with two or three players but with the whole group.
On goal right after conceding and goal so fast to start the third period
Yeah that’s huge because you’re a little bit on your heels again, they’ve got some energy, we’re in their building and the fans are behind them. Getting a little quieter quickly served us well in that third period.
On the currently high level of play by Anze Kopitar and whether his consistency almost takes him for granted
That’s probably fair to say, we probably take him for granted, we just keep calling his name and he goes out and does it. I know there’s a lot of talk about the goals he scores and the offense he puts on, but it’s never been at the expense of what he’s really good at. He takes care of the group, the team, he always does everything right.
To immediate contributions from Gavrikov, Korpisalo and MacEwen
Not surprisingly, they are very good hockey players. You get to know things quickly in practice, which is probably the area that caught my eye the most. Believe it or not, this may sound strange, but you don’t have to go to the board to explain exercises, you look at it once and you get it. That gives us a pretty good sense of their ability to read and react to things around them.
Additionally, McLellan said of Kevin Fiala that “he was trying to come back, a little sore, so we’ll see.”
Remarks –
– The Kings extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.
– Adrian Kempe (2-0-2) scored his 31st and 32nd goals of the season and reached the 50-point plateau for the second time in his career (32-19-51) (35-19-54 in 2021-22) . ). Kempe now has five points in his last three games (4-1-5).
– Kempe’s two-goal game marked his 18th multi-goal game of his career. No Kings skater has had more multi-goal efforts (18) since his debut NHL season (2016-17) than Kempe.
– Phillip Danault (2-0-2) scored his 99th and 100th career NHL goals and became the 22nd different skater from the 2011 NHL draft class to score 100 career NHL goals.
– Anze Kopitar (0-3-3) recorded his 279th multi-point game of his career, putting him two multi-point games away from tying Dave Taylor (281) for the fourth most in Kings history . It was also his 26th three-assist appearance of his career. Only Wayne Gretzky (67), Marcel Dionne (43), and Dave Taylor (28) have more three-plus assist games in franchise history.
– Quinton Byfield extended his point and assisted Streaks in a fifth game (0-5-5). Byfield became the first Kings skater aged 20 or younger to build an assist streak of at least five games since Darryl Sydor (age 20, 0-5-5, February 27–March 9, 1993). The last Kings skater aged 20 or younger to establish a five-game points streak was Drew Doughty, February 8–March 4, 2010 (age 20, 1-6-7).
– Jordan Spence, Matt Roy, Kevin Fiala, Vladislav Gavrikov and Trevor Moore all rallied helpers to victory. With his assist, Roy extended his point and assist streaks to a fourth game of his career (0-4-4), while Spence’s point was his first of the season.
– Joonas Korpisalo stopped 28 of 30 shots for his second win in his second start for the LA Kings. He is the 12th distinct goaltender in franchise history to have victories in each of his first two appearances with the Kings.
The Kings are scheduled to hold a practice session tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Toyota Sports Performance Center.