Kings hold off Rangers for 4th win in 5 games – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – The Kings extended their recent round on Monday night, beating the New York Rangers, 3-1, at Crypto.com Arena to claim their fourth win in five games.

Centers Phillip Danault and Blake Lizotte scored for the Kings. Adrian Kempe completed the move with a goal into an empty net and striker Trevor Moore contributed two assists. Cal Petersen started in a row for the first time this season, making 22 saves for a second straight win.

Center Mika Zibanejad scores for Rangers. Top scorer Artemi Panarin played for the first time since December 31 after escaping COVID protocols, but he failed to score. Alexander Georgiev made 36 saves.

The Kings are 2-2 on penalties, taking on some uncertain defensive play from Saturday’s win over Detroit. They only allow a total of goals in one of their last two matches.

In this seven-game home run, which ends Thursday against Pittsburgh, the Kings took Vancouver’s seven-game winning streak, Philadelphia’s seven-game streak and beat a Rangers team that have won four of the last five to hit the points. first draw. located in the Urban Subdivision. They also shut down a resurgent Detroit team.

“We beat some pretty good teams that play good hockey, so that’s huge confidence for our team. If you want to make it to the knockout stages, you have to beat all the teams and the strongest ones are put in there,” Lizotte said. “I think it’s a really good positive going forward for our group’s confidence, knowing that we can play against anyone in this tournament.”

With 77 seconds remaining, Kempe hit a shot from the kings’ area into the empty cage at the opposite end of the ice to score his team’s 16th leading goal.

Rangers revived the game as they cut their deficit to 2-1 with 8:33 remaining in the third inning. Chytil made a spin from the wall on the right into the net, where Zibanejad turned to score his 13th goal of the season. The goal interrupted the 118:39 streak of closed hockey that the Kings played with Petersen in the net.

“They are dangerous, they are skilled. But we tested well and managed the ball pretty well,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan. “They were able to take advantage of the transition plays pretty quickly, and we didn’t give them many of those.”

The Kings led 2-0 and 31-15 on shots over the course of 40 minutes. They also offer the advantage on hits, with the biggest hit arguably guard Drew Doughty’s crisp check against Chytil in the neutral zone.

At 2:41 of the second round, the kings extended their advantage from haste. Like their first goal, it was a Moore backhand that powered the backhand, this time from Lizotte.

Just 55 seconds into the second half, the Kings took the first lead of the game. Moore picked up defender K’Andre Miller’s bag, splitting Miller and his teammate Jacob Trouba to launch forward for a backhand. As the two defenders searched for a rebound, Danault arrived on the scene and hit the ball back past Georgiev. Danault currently has three goals and five points in the last four matches.

Moore was once plagued by flukes and bounces that limited his output at the start of the year, but he has scored eight points in his last six games after scoring six in The first 30 games.

“The coaching staff is partly responsible for his lack of production because we played him everywhere. He’s the center, he’s the left wing, he’s the right, he’s up front, he’s in the fourth line,” said McLellan. “Now he has found a home on Danault Street.”

The kings continue to possess and shoot down their opponents, but the first stage is still scoreless. Among the stronger opportunities for either side were two for Kempe using short speed. Kempe scored with a short hand in the Kings’ win over Detroit on Saturday, and three of the Kings’ four short goals this season have been scored in their previous six games.

The two sides exchanged scoring opportunities to start the game, and for the second straight game, the first shot Petersen faced was a dangerous one. To fight Detroit, he prevented an early secession. On Monday, he lunged forward to make a brilliant save on winger Ryan Strome, who once hit the ball in the process of stopping a quirky attack.