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The Los Angeles Kings won both games of their back-to-back set, defeating the Anaheim Ducks on Friday to complete the sweep of their four-game road trip, then picking up a win over the New York Islanders yesterday.
4-1 WIN OVER DUCKS
Los Angeles started strong and really limited opportunities for the Ducks. The Kings opened the scoring when Quinton Byfield made a great pass out front to Carl Grundstrom, who redirected it past John Gibson, and the Kings took a lead into the intermission.
The Kings then exploded offensively in the second period, as Anze Kopitar’s forecheck took the puck off Jamie Drysdale, and then Kopitar got it out to Adrian Kempe who beat Gibson with a nice shot. Kopitar and Kempe continued to contribute, with Kopitar putting Los Angeles up by three with a power play goal, then Kempe scoring his second of the game with a great shot, making it a 4-0 game.
Troy Terry did get one back for the Ducks in the third period but it didn’t make a difference, as the Kings held on for a big 4-1 win.
5-2 WIN OVER ISLANDERS
The Kings opened the scoring early, with Trevor Moore controlling the puck and getting it to Phillip Danault, who scored on the open net. Then about four minutes later, Anze Kopitar found Matt Roy for a one-timer to beat Semyon Varlamov, making it a 2-0 game. While the Kings got the better of the chances even after that, Cal Petersen was forced to make some pretty excellent saves in a late flurry, to keep the game at 2-0.
The Kings continued to keep control of the game in the second period, outshooting New York 15-8. Los Angeles’ lead was extended to three goals off one of the strangest goals I’ve seen in a while, with not one, not two, but three different Islanders players batting the puck backwards off a faceoff and into their own net, as Quinton Byfield got credit for the goal. The Islanders did get on the board midway through the period, as Noah Dobson put a great pass to Anders Lee who capitalized, but Brendan Lemieux scored his eighth goal of the season in the final minute, putting Los Angeles up 4-1 after 40 minutes.
It was a more even final frame, with the Kings limited to just nine shots. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored late to make it a 4-2 game but Trevor Moore buried an empty net goal, icing the game for Los Angeles.
With their win over the Ducks, the Kings swept their four-game road trip, picking up all eight possible points. Then the win over New York at home marks a five-game win streak.
Quinton Byfield has been looking really good with the Kings lately and is way more involved, generating a lot of chances off the rush. Byfield looks to be settling in and is already starting to make an impact offensively.
Adrian Kempe continues on his roll with two more goals against Anaheim. He was held off the scoresheet against New York but is now already at 25 goals in 50 games so far this season.
The Kings have been producing tons of offense recently and most of it can simply be linked to the fact that it’s been scoring by committee, with goals coming from all parts of their lineup. They’ve scored at least four goals in four games during their current winning streak, while often really limiting shots against as well.
Los Angeles will have another tough test tomorrow, as they look to extend their winning streak against the Boston Bruins.
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