Finding a home win. Getting the power play going. Finding more production from their line combinations. Name a recent frustration for the Los Angeles Kings, and there’s a pretty good chance they did something to address it during their 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
The Kings’ first home win of the season, which included a power-play goal and contributions from multiple players playing on new lines and reshuffled defensive pairings, also included numerous milestones from Kings players sprinkled throughout the game.
Los Angeles opened the scoring late in the first period, when Adrian Kempe scored his 200th career goal. He scored from up close off a good pass from behind the net by Joel Armia, who had moved up to the first line to play with Kempe and Anze Kopitar. All three of those players had a plus-2 rating in tonight’s game. Armia was celebrating a milestone of his own, playing in his 600th NHL game.
“The talk before the game was just, getting in on the forecheck, being heavy, winning puck battles,” Kempe said. “And I think that’s what we did all night. We had some really good looks. Could have had a couple more, but Armia, overall, I think played really well tonight.”
After a stretch spanning well over 30 minutes in which neither team could find the net, Kevin Fiala scored on a power play with five minutes remaining in the third period. The goal was a huge boost to a Kings power-play unit which has been in the bottom third of the NHL for most of the season.
“I think maybe consistency hasn’t been our best on the power plays,” Kempe said. “I think we’ve had the looks and we’ve had the chances, and we got one in the back of the net. So I think that was good for the confidence for the group as well. So yeah, moving forward, I think it’s important to get one of those every now and then.”
“It’s just sticking with it,” Kings head coach Jim Hiller added. “And you can get too frustrated. It will make it worse. So I was really happy about that point — is the fact that we had missed a few chances, stuck with it. Great play on the entry, and just a great goal by Kevin pulling top shelf. And that one, I think, made everybody breathe just a little bit.”
The goal included an assist by Corey Perry, who was appearing in his 1,400th NHL game. The 40-year-old forward had taken a hard high stick to the face just minutes earlier, giving him a bloody nose, but returned to the ice almost immediately.
“He’s always in the thick of things,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said of his teammate. “I mean, even tonight, gets one in the face, is crying, trying to go back out there on the five-on-three. Can’t even open his eyes, and he’s trying to get back out there. So it just shows you the type of heart, how much he loves the game of hockey and how much he’ll do for his teammates.”
The final — and perhaps most notable — milestone came on Doughty’s empty-netter to seal the win, which was his 162nd career goal, surpassing Rob Blake for the record for Kings blueliners.
“You come into the league, just hoping to be a good NHL player, play five years, 10 years, whatever you can play,” Doughty said. “And, I mean, that was a fortunate bounce to be able to do that in the first place. And then now to do this and have the career I’ve had is super special. I’m super thankful for everybody involved in it.”
The mix of milestone achievements and breakthroughs on recent struggles created an environment of relief around the team, particularly after a close road loss to the Jets earlier this season.
“I thought it was a similar game,” Hiller said. It was an even game up in Winnipeg. We lose the special teams battle, we lose the game. Tonight, we win the special teams battle. So that was important to win it.”
“We really wanted this one,” Doughty added. “We played well in Winnipeg when we played them there, and we thought we deserved a better fate. But yeah, we went into the third period saying, ‘we need to get some insurance goals, but keep our foot on the pedal. Don’t sit back’ … And we did do a good job with that.”
“We’ve been holding up the energy really well. Even though we haven’t gotten the results at home, [we’re] playing good hockey, I think,” Kempe concluded. “So, yeah, this one definitely felt good. And I think everybody’s gonna sleep pretty well.”
A number of different Kings will remember tonight’s game as a notable moment in their careers. The team as a whole could end up looking back at it as a breakthrough on the season.
