Drew Doughty, Adrian Kempe each score twice as Kings rally to defeat Coyotes
Drew Doughty and Adrian Kempe scored two goals apiece, and the Kings rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.
Doughty, Kempe and Trevor Moore each scored in a 3:39 span early in the third period as the Kings overcame a two-goal deficit for the second time in two nights, following a 4-3 overtime victory at Vegas on Friday. Cal Petersen had 20 saves.
“Every game is a basically a playoff game for us right now,” Doughty said. “We always know we have the fight. We always know we don’t give up. We play hard right to the end.”
The Kings (26-17-7) are 6-0-2 in their last eight road games and have won their last six games in Arizona.
“The ability to play four lines, trust everybody, good goaltending,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Playing to our identity. And the guys have done a good job of managing themselves away from the rink, making sure they are fresh and able to give what’s in the tank.”
Clayton Keller, Lawson Crouse and Anton Stralman scored and Karel Vejmelka stopped 34 shots for the Coyotes (12-33-4), who were playing their first game in eight days.
Arizona held a 3-1 lead until Doughty scored his first goal on a power play with 1:27 left in the second period.
Adrian Kempe scored in overtime for his second goal of the night as the visiting Kings defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Friday.
Moore tied it at at 6:24 of the third when he flicked the puck into an open side, and Doughty put the Kings ahead with an unassisted goal 48 seconds later on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Kempe’s power-play goal midway through the period made it 5-3. The Kings were two for four on the power play and killed all three of their penalties.
“Penalty kill game up big, did its thing again, and obviously the power play got us the win,” McLellan said. “It’s been awhile since we said the special teams probably won us a game, and tonight was that night.”
Stralman gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 8:52 of the first period when his centering pass from behind the Kings’ net caromed off a Los Angeles player in the crease and got past Petersen.
Kempe tied it with his first goal 12 seconds later on a quick one-timer from the left circle after taking a cross-ice pass from Anze Kopitar.
Crouse gave Arizona a 2-1 lead at 7:41 of the second, on the Coyotes’ second shot of the period, finding an open right side after a pass from Alex Galchenyuk.
Keller made it 3-1 five minutes later when his shot from the right circle hit the cross bar before caroming into the net.
Notes: The Coyotes acquired forward Nick Ritchie from Toronto for defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and forward Dyan Dzingel in a trade that was announced during the second period. The Coyotes also receive a conditional draft pick, a third-round pick in 2022 or a second-round pick in 2025. “Nick makes us a bigger, stronger, tougher team,” Arizona general manager Bill Armstrong said. ... Galchenyuk had his 200th career assist on Crouse’s goal. ... The game was originally scheduled for Dec. 27 but was postponed when the NHL extended its holiday break for COVID-19 testing reasons. The teams meet again in Arizona on Wednesday. ... The Kings have alternated goaltenders Petersen and Jonathan Quick in the last 15 games, during which they are 9-6. Arizona forward Barrett Hayton returned after missing 16 games because of hand surgery.
Up next: The Kings are at Arizona on Wednesday night, and the Coyotes host Dallas on Sunday night.
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