LOS ANGELES — The Kings equaled their longest winning streak of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena, their fourth consecutive win and their sixth straight on home ice.
Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, center Phillip Danault and defenseman Mikey Anderson scored goals for the Kings. Winger Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist, and winger Viktor Arvidsson chipped in a pair of assists. Pheonix Copley made 20 saves in the win.
Defenseman Rasmus Sandin scored and had the primary assist on winger Alex Ovechkin’s goal for the Capitals. Darcy Kuemper stopped 37 of 40 shots.
Throughout the night, the Kings were aggressive protecting leads, and they closed out the game by staving off a six-on-five surge and before Kempe netted an empty-net goal in the final seconds to seal the Caps’ fate. It was his 30th goal of the season, making him the first King to score 30 goals in consecutive seasons since Ziggy Palffy in 2002 and 2003.
There was considerable commotion and a lengthy conference late in the game when Washington center Evgeni Kuznetsov went to the ice holding his face after a potential high stick. There was no penalty call, even after a lengthy review.
The Kings reclaimed the lead with 12:08 remaining. Kempe stole the puck and keyed a counterattack that came to fruition when winger Quinton Byfield hit a trailing Anderson for his third goal of the season. It was Byfield’s fourth straight game with an assist.
Washington found itself with a two-man advantage early in the third period, and that meant the chants of “Ovi!” had a strong chance of raining down. And rain they did, after Ovechkin hammered a feed from Sandin home with a one-time blast from the left point. His 36th goal of the season tied the score.
Overall, however, the Kings held their own on the penalty kill, negating four of five Washington power plays, including one in the latter half of the third period.
The Kings’ first lead of the…
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