The Los Angeles Kings erupted for three goals in the second period to take a commanding lead and finished off 5-1 road victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Alex Turcotte, and Warren Foegele each tallied a goal and an assist in the victory, while Darcy Kuemper turned aside 31 of 32 shots he faced.
Anze Kopitar added two assists for the Kings, who won for the seventh time in their past eight games.
Byfield, Kempe, and Phillip Danault all scored in the first 5:04 of the second period to chase Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin from the net.
The Kings jumped out to the lead 7:05 into the contest as Turcotte took a crafty feed from Kempe on a 2-on-1 rush and scored.
Less than a minute after the game’s opening goal Connor Mackey tried to spark the Rangers as he fought with Samuel Helenius.
With 4:54 left in the first period Byfield fed Foegele out in front of the net and after failing to score on his first shot, he picked up his own rebound and doubled up the Kings’ advantage.
Byfield then increased the Kings’ lead to 3-0 just under three minutes into the second period as he took the feed from Foegele and wired the puck past Shesterkin.
The Kings saw their lead grow to 4-0 as Kempe took a no-look backward pass from Kopitar and fired it into the empty cage with 15:20 left in the second.
Danault scored a rebound goal just 24 seconds later, forcing the Rangers to turn to former Kings netminder Jonathan Quick, who stopped all 13 shots he faced in relief.
Filip Chytil got the Rangers on the board with 7:43 left in the second period as his harmless shot from the boards bounced off a defenseman and snuck past Kuemper.
Just over a minute later Chytil drew a penalty, but the Rangers were unable to capitalize on the man advantage as Vincent Trocheck’s wrist shot rang off the crossbar.
Mika Zibanejad sprung loose for a shorthanded breakaway with 13:48 remaining but was unable to slide the puck through Kuemper’s legs.
–Field Level Media
LAS VEGAS – Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Cup final with a 110-102 win over the Atlanta…
Melvin Council Jr. poured in a game-high 24 points and St. Bonaventure held off Providence for a 74-70 win on Saturday evening at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in…
Jamir Watkins hit 19 of his 23 free-throw attempts and scored 29 points, leading Florida State to a 77-64 victory over Tulane on Saturday at the Orange Bowl Classic in…
St. Bonaventure handles Providence, off to 10-1 start
Jamir Watkins sinks 19 FTs as Florida State tops Tulane
Javon Small comes up big as West Virginia handles Bethune-Cookman
Oilers start strong, knock off Golden Knights