Anze Kopitar scored a pair of goals and added an assist, all in the second period, as the Los Angeles Kings cruised to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Vladislav Gavrikov, Alex Laferriere, Phillip Danault and Trevor Lewis each added goals, Adrian Kempe had three assists and Cam Talbot made 22 saves as the Pacific Division’s third-place Kings (35-22-11, 81 points) improved their playoff credentials with the victory in the opener of a three-game homestand.
Kopitar now has 1,199 career points as Los Angeles earned a victory over Chicago for the second time in three games.
Nick Foligno and Kevin Korchinski each scored a goal and Petr Mrazek made 18 saves as the Blackhawks (19-45-5, 43 points) fell to 3-2 since March 10 with a loss at home to the Kings on Friday in addition to Tuesday’s setback.
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 12:03 of the first period when Laferriere scored his 11th of the season off a rebound from Blake Lizotte’s shot.
The Blackhawks tied the score just over two minutes later when Foligno scored early on a two-man advantage. A pass from Philipp Kurashev rebounded off his skate and across the line for his 16th goal.
Los Angeles took the lead for good when Gavrikov scored from near the left point at 9:32 of the second period, after a pass toward the blue line from Kopitar.
Kopitar’s initial goal came at 11:52 of the middle period on a centering pass from Adrian Kempe after a Blackhawks turnover deep in their own zone. Zopitar added his 22nd of the season at 19:08 of the period off another Kempe assist; the puck deflected off his right leg.
Danault scored at 5:47 of the third period to give the Kings a commanding 5-1 lead. It was his 16th score.
Korchinski cut into that advantage for the Blackhawks when his fifth of the season was deflected into the goal off the glove of the Kings’ Laferriere at 14:16 of the third period. Lewis scored for Los Angeles with 2:50 remaining.
–Field Level Media
