Trevor Moore scores twice as Kings end their eight-game losing streak
Trevor Moore scored two goals and the Kings ended an eight-game losing streak by beating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Monday.
Phillip Danault, Alex Laferriere and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored in a four-goal third period for the Kings, who had gone 0-4-4 since beating San José on Dec. 27 at Crypto.com Arena.
“We did do a lot of things the right way and have done that a lot on this trip,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We finally got rewarded. Our guys dug in and we pulled ourself out of it.”
David Rittich made 30 saves for the Kings in their fifth stop of a six-game trip that concludes Tuesday at Dallas. Vladislav Gavrikov, Mikey Anderson, Matt Roy and Danault each had two assists.
The Kings are mired in a seven-game losing streak that has the entire team searching for answers, but a solution to their woes isn’t out of reach.
“This team is a resilient group,” Dubois said. “This team knows how to come back. It’s an 82-game season. There’s going to be adversity. Obviously, you don’t want to lose eight in a row.”
Jordan Martinook and Jack Drury scored for Carolina, which had secured a point in its previous eight games. Antti Raanta stopped 20 shots before Yaniv Perets was inserted with 14:40 left for his NHL debut. Perets was called upon for just one save.
“It wasn’t a terrible game,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We just had those couple lapses. That’s what it does in this league.”
Rittich posted a season-high save total in just his fifth game of the season.
“That’s the type of effort a team needs to get out of a funk,” McLellan said.
The Kings hadn’t scored five goals in a game since their previous victory.
The score was tied at 1-1 before the Kings unloaded in the third.
“They all came in different forms,” McLellan said. “It was just playing the game.”
Danault’s ninth goal of the season gave the Kings a 2-1 lead 61 seconds into the period. Laferriere’s goal came at 2:21.
Then came Dubois’ second goal in as many games and ninth of the season at 5:20. Dubois has scored in back-to-back games three times this season.
Moore opened the scoring at 6:24 of the first period, and he added his team-leading 20th with 1:16 to play into an empty net.
Martinook has scored in three straight games for the first time in his 10-year career that covers 602 games. His tally at 5:38 of the second period tied the score and was his fifth goal this season.
The Kings overcame the loss of center Blake Lizotte to a lower-body injury after less than three minutes of ice time.
The Hurricanes honored retired forward Justin Williams with a pregame induction into the team’s Hall of Fame. He was part of three Stanley Cup-winning teams, including two with the Kings in 2012 and 2014, and with Carolina in 2006.
“Hate that we lost that game on Willy’s night,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s going to eat me up for a little while.”
Kings: at Dallas on Tuesday to conclude their road swing.
