Kings end losing streak, hold off Ottawa

LOS ANGELES –– The Kings snapped their five-game losing streak with a 4-2 triumph implicit the Ottawa Senators astatine Staples Center connected Saturday, raising their points percent backmost supra .500 for the season.

Wingers Viktor Arvidsson, Carl Grundstrom and Arthur Kaliyev lit the lamp, with Grundstrom adding an empty-net goal. Center Anze Kopitar provided 3 assists and defenseman Alex Edler had two. Cal Petersen stopped 30 shots, and stood gangly during a precocious flurry from Ottawa during a five-minute powerfulness play.

Winger Connor Brown and defenseman Michael Del Zotto scored goals for Ottawa. Filip Gustavsson made 33 of 36 saves. It was the Senators’ 5th consecutive nonaccomplishment and they present person the NHL’s lowest constituent full and worst constituent percentage.

Following a suspenseful 5 minutes, the Kings sealed the triumph erstwhile Grundstrom coasted successful for an empty-netter with 34 seconds remaining.

With conscionable implicit six minutes to play, winger Brendan Lemieux took objection to Sens guardant Brady Tkachuk shoving halfway Blake Lizotte and a tussle ensued. In summation to matching treble minors, Lemieux was assessed a five-minute lucifer penalty. That near the Kings shorthanded for the remainder of the crippled betwixt the five-minute punishment termination and Ottawa aboriginal pulling its goalie for an other attacker. The Sens attempted 9 shots and deed the nett 5 times connected the powerfulness play.

The Kings fended disconnected immoderate propulsion from Ottawa successful the 3rd period, including their extended powerfulness play. They successfully defended their pb and astir extended it erstwhile winger Alex Iafallo had a accidental to decorativeness a two-on-one unreserved but mustered small unit connected his shot. Later, a defensive-zone turnover to Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot astir created a crisis, but Petersen calmed the concern with a mitt save.

The Kings ceded a extremity successful the last 90 seconds of each of the archetypal 2 periods, having their vantage sliced successful fractional aft a agelong rebound kicked retired by Petersen sent Brown up with speed. On the resultant rush, Brown kept the puck, sliding a wrist changeable on the crystal to the acold broadside and past Petersen. Brown astir finished a shorthanded, odd-man unreserved with a extremity successful the archetypal period, but Petersen stonewalled him with an diversion save.

The Kings had doubled their pb connected a second-period play that was initiated and finished by Kaliyev. He stripped the puck adjacent the bluish enactment successful the Kings’ zone, mounting disconnected a assured bid of passes that culminated successful his tap-in extremity astatine the broadside of the net. It was Kaliyev’s 4th goal, and possibly the astir workmanlike yet for the 20-year-old sniper.

Just past the midway constituent of the game, the Kings took their 2nd pb of the nighttime successful unconventional fashion. Kopitar centered the puck for Grundstrom, who fanned connected his changeable arsenic helium was pushed from behind. But his limb propelled the puck guardant arsenic helium slid on the crystal and crashed into Gustavsson, who was incapable to marque immoderate play connected the puck. After initially waving the extremity off, the officials convened and allowed it to count.

Grundstrom past scored and past played connected Nov. 13, giving him 2 goals successful his past 2 games and 4 for the season.

The Kings fired a staggering 20 first-period shots connected goal, treble Ottawa’s total, but went into the archetypal intermission deadlocked

Ottawa tied the crippled with 19 seconds near successful the archetypal period. They won an offensive-zone faceoff consecutive backmost to defenseman Michael Del Zotto, whose changeable from the bluish enactment was inadvertently redirected successful by Kings winger Alex Iafallo.

After converting connected their archetypal powerfulness play, the Kings fto 2 others autumn by the wayside, including a four-on-three accidental wherever Kaliyev missed the nett connected a sterling opportunity.

Iafallo deed the station with a one-timer astir 30 seconds earlier defenseman Alex Edler drew a punishment that sent the Kings to the powerfulness play, and the Kings cashed successful with their 3rd power-play extremity successful 2 games.

Five minutes into the game, rookie defenseman Sean Durzi and Kopitar played transportation and drawback precocious successful the portion earlier Kopitar glided guardant and flung a puck that was tipped successful by Arvidsson. It was Arvidsson’s 2nd extremity disconnected a deflection successful arsenic galore games.