Capitals snap Kings’ 8-game point streak

LOS ANGELES — The Kings and Washington Capitals played a crippled astatine Staples Center connected Wednesday nighttime that was tightly contested, carnal and low-scoring – conscionable the mode the Kings would person preferred, but for the result, which went successful favour of Washington, 2-0.

The Capitals entered the lucifer arsenic the NHL’s fourth-highest scoring squad and their apical scorer, winger Alex Ovechkin, precocious became the fourth-leading scorer successful NHL history. The Kings, meanwhile, had allowed a stingy 1.75 goals per crippled during their eight-game constituent streak, which ended Wednesday.

Jonathan Quick made 36 saves successful his archetypal nonaccomplishment since Oct. 28.

Quick entered the nighttime connected a four-game winning streak successful which helium had allowed 2 goals oregon less successful each victory, including a .971 prevention percent and a 0.98 goals-against average. He made a assortment battalion of diversion saves, including his tormenting of halfway Aliaksei Protas, archetypal disconnected a sterling one-timer and aboriginal disconnected a promising wraparound.

Forward Garnet Hathaway scored doubly for the Capitals, erstwhile into an bare net. Ovechkin had six shots connected goal, and Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves for the shutout.

With 3:30 left, Washington defenseman John Carlson alertly spotted Hathaway connected the doorstep. He faked a changeable and sent a walk to Hathaway that was deflected initially by defenseman Matt Roy but past pushed location by Hathaway for the game’s archetypal extremity and a solemnisation that was adjacent parts jubilance and relief.

The Kings killed their 2nd punishment of the nighttime earlier the midpoint of the 3rd period, the item of which was Quick beating backmost Ovechkin’s hard one-timer.

The Kings dodged a slug successful the archetypal infinitesimal of the 3rd play erstwhile Ovechkin carried the puck with velocity arsenic portion of a two-on-one rush. Center Connor McMichael could not enactment onside, obviating immoderate crisis. The Kings earned the adjacent large chance, with Adrian Kempe’s one-timer denied by Samsonov.

The 2nd play featured a spot much discourtesy for some sides, but roughing penalties (four) acold outnumbered goals successful different scoreless frame.

The Kings took their archetypal punishment of the nighttime 12:35 into the 2nd play erstwhile halfway Blaze Lizotte high-sticked defenseman Dmitry Orlov. The Capitals deed the nett 3 times connected the powerfulness play, with Ovechkin accounting for 1 of those shots and mounting up another.

Seven minutes into the 2nd period, defenseman Olli Maatta’s savvy shot-pass acceptable up a wide-open Trevor Moore for a one-timer, but his sharp-angled changeable deed the station connected the Kings’ champion scoring accidental to that point.

The Kings had advantages crossed the committee successful large possession metrics, a 14-9 borderline successful shots connected extremity and the lone powerfulness play successful the archetypal period, but it ended scoreless.

With a small much than 5 minutes near successful the archetypal period, Washington failed to people connected an odd-man unreserved but recovered the puck connected the forecheck. Kings defenseman Alex Edler archetypal lifted the instrumentality of winger Tom Wilson and sent him to the crystal to avert a unsafe changeable and deligh the crowd. Edler past blocked his consequent changeable effort to extremity the possession.

Winger Viktor Arvidsson returned to enactment for the archetypal clip since Oct. 30, erstwhile helium entered COVID-19 protocol and past overcame different illness. He had 4 shots connected goal.

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