Adrian Kempe netted his 17th goal of the season early in the first period, and Phillip Danault scored twice as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-1 on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive win.
The Kings secured their sixth win in seven games, establishing a 2-0 lead while showcasing a strong defensive performance.
“They caught us off guard a little bit. They played very hard, and they played the right way,” Danault said. “They were a tough team to play today and I thought we battled well and then we scored some big goals.”
Seattle suffered its ninth straight loss and has dropped 12 of its last 13 games. Marcus Johansson scored on a power play in the second period, but the Kraken managed only 18 shots on goal against Cal Petersen.
Petersen earned his fourth straight win, making several crucial saves despite Seattle’s second-lowest shot total of the season.
Chris Driedger made 19 stops but lost his second straight start following Thursday’s 2-1 defeat in St. Louis.
“Something’s got to change here. I mean, it’s completely unacceptable to drop nine in a row,” Driedger said. “There’s no other way to put it.”
Kempe scored 4:06 into the game, capitalizing on the rebound of Alex Iafallo’s shot. He maneuvered around Driedger to score, achieving a career-high 17 goals just 38 games into the season. The 25-year-old has four goals in his last six games.
“For us, he’s a great example of being patient with development,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “It would have been easy for us to turn our back on him at some point when it wasn’t going well, and he was on us as well, but we stuck with it, and over time, he just got better and better.”
The Kings extended their lead to 2-0 when Danault knocked a rebound past Driedger 4:10 into the second period. Mikey Anderson’s initial shot was saved, but Danault managed to capitalize on the rebound.
Danault added an empty-netter in the final minute, bringing his tally to nine goals in 36 games, a significant improvement from five in 53 games last season with Montreal.
“You play well defensively as a team. It brings the offense, and then you find the blue paint,” Danault said. “A good grind but a couple of good goals.”
Seattle responded with a power-play goal after Matt Roy was called for a double minor for high sticking. Johansson, stopped on a breakaway earlier, scored his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Mark Giordano and Calle Jarnkrok.
The Kraken briefly thought they had tied the game late in the second period when Ryan Donato’s shot appeared to score. However, a video review showed the shot hitting Andersen’s shoulder and the crossbar but staying out.
“It’s hard losing hockey games when you’re in a stretch like this,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “But at the end of the day we got to look at it, we got to find a way to get a little bit more out of our group.”
Game Notes
- Los Angeles F Samuel Fagemo and D Jacob Moverare were recalled from the taxi squad but were scratched.
- Seattle F Morgan Geekie missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. The Kraken also scratched D Will Borgen and Haydn Fleury.
- Seattle unveiled a new 4 ½ minute pregame intro featuring flashy lights, water-themed projections on the ice, and a menacing eye displayed at one end of the arena.
UP NEXT
- Kings: At San Jose on Monday.
- Kraken: Host Chicago on Monday
