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The Los Angeles Kings won both games of their back-to-back on the road, defeating the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes.
4-3 OVERTIME WIN AGAINST GOLDEN KNIGHTS
After some great chances were exchanged early on, the Golden Knights opened the scoring midway through the first period, with Max Pacioretty sliding in a loose puck. Then a little later, Viktor Arvidsson turned the puck over and Jonathan Marchessault was able to feed Reilly Smith, who beat Jonathan Quick to make it 2-0. Andreas Athanasiou did get one back for the Kings only 28 seconds later though, going in on a breakaway to cut the lead in half, heading into the intermission.
Just 30 seconds into the second frame, Adrian Kempe ripped a shot past Laurent Brossoit on a power play to tie the game. While Max Pacioretty’s second goal of the game did put Vegas back ahead, Phillip Danault managed to score late in the period to tie it once again. The Kings ended up having the much better third period, outshooting the Golden Knights 11-5, but neither team could capitalize and the game went to overtime.
In the extra frame, Adrian Kempe’s second goal of the game made the difference, redirecting a great feed from Sean Durzi to give Los Angeles the win.
5-3 WIN AGAINST COYOTES
Despite the Kings starting the game with a flurry of chances and outshooting Arizona by a huge margin in the first period, the Coyotes opened the scoring midway through the frame, as Anton Stralman threw the puck to the front of the net and it took a bounce and found its way in. Adrian Kempe continued his hot streak just 12 seconds later though, taking a pass from Anze Kopitar and beating Karel Vejmelka to tie the game.
Arizona managed to regain their lead in the second frame, as Alex Galchenyuk got a nice pass to Lawson Crouse in front, who tipped the puck in. Then just a few minutes after that, Clayton Keller went in on an odd-man rush and ripped a shot past Petersen and all of a sudden, the Kings were down by two, despite controlling a lot of the game. Drew Doughty did get one back on a power play later though, burying a nice pass from Adrian Kempe to pull the score back to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Trevor Moore managed to tie the game for the Kings in the third period, burying a loose puck. It sparked an offensive outburst for Los Angeles and under a minute later, Drew Doughty wired in his second goal of the game to give the Kings their first lead. They weren’t done there and just a few minutes later, Adrian Kempe buried another one-timer on the power play, putting Los Angeles up 5-3, a lead they held onto for the win.
These were two really impressive wins for the Kings, battling back from two goals down in both games. Despite playing from behind, they were the better team in both games, outshooting Arizona and Vegas by a combined total of 70-47, and they deserved the outcomes they got.
While the Kings did really limit shots though, Jonathan Quick’s workload against Vegas wasn’t really reflected in those numbers. He had to make some great saves and was key in that win.
Adrian Kempe had four goals over the two games and has been on fire since the Holiday Break, scoring 11 goals and 16 points in 17 games. Drew Doughty is also riding a five-game point streak, with three goals and seven points in that time. You can add a lot of other names to the list of players who have been contributing, being Viktor Arvidsson, Phillip Danault and Anze Kopitar, among others.
The Kings are in a playoff race that’s becoming clearer and clearer in the Western Conference. They sit fourth in the Pacific Division and eighth in the West in points percentage, battling with the likes of Edmonton, Vegas, Nashville and Dallas.
The Kings’ next game comes on Wednesday against the Arizona Coyotes.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM FEBRUARY
Kings beat Red Wings to finish off successful road trip
Kings fall to Oilers in first game after break 
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