In the first round of Thursday’s playoffs, he moved two points to clinch home ice, riding two goals for Kevin Fiara and two goals for crypto.com arena from Quinton Byfield, Anzekopiter, Alex LaFerrière and Jordance Pence.
Andrei Kuzmenko and Adrian Kempe each had three assists.
Cutter Gauthier scored in the 20th Ducks of the season early in the second term. However, Kings goalkeeper Darcy Kemper did not give up on another, extending his game’s streak to 15, extending his goals of less than two goals, one of his latest NHL records.
The victory allowed the second-placed Kings to lead the third-placed Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific division with a four-point lead, with four games playing. The Kings and Oilers are almost certain to meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, and home ice is important for the Kings, who have the NHL’s best home record (30-5-4).
The Oilers won the final three playoff series with the Kings, but all three were opened in Edmonton.
The Kings needed just 84 seconds to take the lead, and Byfield scored from the slots on the power play. Gauthier coincided that 1:46 to the second period, blowing up the snapshot past Kuemper from the Faceoff Circle on the right. However, Kopital put King ahead 31 seconds later, redirecting a shot from the blue line from the team to the 20th goal of the season.
This was the 14th mark that Copiter scored over 20 goals in the season.
Fiala doubled the lead with Laferriere 4-1 after 2½ minutes, hitting a loose puck at the top of the left circle, and from the top of the power-off circle that closed the crease before backhanding the second shot.
Fiala and Spence closed out the score in the third term, with Fiala netting for the 32nd time of the season on a power play, with Spence in fourth. For Kuzumenko, three assists have given him 10 points in his last six games, but Kempe, whose wife, Cyan, gave birth to the couple’s first child, the girl earlier this week, scored nine points in the same six-game span.
The Kings didn’t drew Drew Doughty in the second straight game of the defensive man. Dauty’s absence was associated with a broken left ankle, which left him missing the first 47 games of the season. He is listed daily
Despite the loss, the ducks have 35 wins, matching their already best regular season total since 2018-19.
