LOS ANGELES — The Kings stepped on the scale once more and asserted that they belong in the ring with any heavyweight.
They completed a season sweep of the team with the NHL’s best record, the Winnipeg Jets, by way of a 4-1 win on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Jets had won nine of 12 games entering the clash and last month pieced together the longest winning streak in the league this season – 11 straight. They also have the most road wins in addition to several other regular-season superlatives, including a league-leading defense spearheaded by Vezina Trophy favorite Connor Hellebuyck in net.
Yet the Kings have beaten them in convincing fashion at home twice now and are 3-0-0 thanks to a gutsy overtime win in Winnipeg between those triumphs. They allowed just one goal in each of the three games and held the Jets under 20 shots in all three as well.
“If there’s one team that we’ve played extremely well, it would be Winnipeg,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “It goes back to the game that we lost in San Jose. We had them up next, they were the first-place team in the league, as they were tonight, so I think that really got us focused. The game in Winnipeg was a strong game for us, and then tonight, too, so I’m sure they’re frustrated with us.”
The Kings are now 12-1-0 against firm playoff teams (top three in their division) at home this season, but 3-10-0 on the road. Each home game they win – and they still have five more – signifies a new franchise single-season record. They’re also 11-3-0 overall in 14 games since acquiring Andrei Kuzmenko at the trade deadline.
Kuzmenko catalyzed the Kings’ effort Tuesday, with a primary assist on the game-winning goal before he tallied unassisted to match the goal and assist of both his linemates, Adrian Kempe and Anže Kopitar. Trevor Moore opened the scoring and Darcy Kuemper repelled 18 shots for the Kings (42-23-9, 93 points), who are two points ahead of Edmonton (43-26-5) for second place in the Pacific Division with eight games left in the regular season.
Cole Perfetti scored Winnipeg’s lone goal. Hellebuyck underwhelmed relative to his reputation, stopping 16 of 19 shots.
The final frame saw the Kings lock down two points, despite having to kill their first two penalties of the game, both tripping minors, to Vladislav Gavrikov and Quinton Byfield.
“Huge ones late in the game there. That’s a dangerous power play,” Kuemper said. “That was the difference in the game down the stretch.”
They nullified both infractions with aplomb before Kempe sealed Winnipeg’s fate with 55 seconds to play. He scored his team-leading 32nd goal uncontested by Hellebuyck, who’d gone to the bench for an extra attacker.
In the middle frame, the Kings appeared to assume control of the game even beyond the scoreboard and had the opportunity to put the game away with a mid-period power play.
But they failed to convert and summarily allowed a goal at 11:40 to Perfetti, who exited the penalty box and tallied from the right faceoff dot 10 seconds after his infraction had expired. It was Perfetti’s second goal in two games as he amassed nine points in his past 10 appearances.
The Kings, however, conserved their two-goal edge at the second intermission thanks to Kuzmenko’s second takeaway that led to a goal on Tuesday, at the 16:07 mark. He stripped Logan Stanley at the red line and then accelerated ahead on a partial two-on-one rush, selling a pass with his eyes and shoulders before slipping a crafty shot under Hellebuyck’s pads.
So how did he see the play develop and open up perhaps the most vaunted netminder in the world, causing him to give up a relatively soft goal?
“You want my secret?” Kuzmenko asked. “I don’t say.”
Because of two trades, Kuzmenko ended up facing the Jets (51-20-4, 106 points) six times with three different franchises this season, with his teams winning three of those games, leading him to joke that “probably, these are my friends, the Winnipeg Jets.”
Kuzmenko has nine points in his last seven games after getting a goal and two assists in an 8-1 drubbing of San Jose on Sunday.
The early going was largely a tactical battle but the Kings managed to break through with a bounce – and a goal – 8:28 after the opening faceoff. They added another 1:22 later to seize a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes, with the league’s stingiest first-period team expanding its edge over its second most miserly group.
An own-zone giveaway by Winnipeg allowed Joel Edmundson, who skated in his 600th career game on Tuesday, to flick a shot attempt that was deflected downward by Moore. The puck hit the ice, then Moore’s skate and, finally, the nylon behind Hellebuyck. It was the pride of the Conejo Valley’s fourth goal in seven games and his 17th of the season.
The Kings’ second goal was more picturesque, a rush tally from the top line. Kuzmenko’s neutral-zone takeaway sent his trio off on an odd-man rush. Kempe found him between the circles, only to see Kuzmenko eschew a straight-on shot and dish to Kopitar for a redirection from the right side. It was the captain’s 19th goal of 2024-25.
“He’s a really strong O-zone player, but I didn’t know he’d be this strong off the rush. That’s probably the thing that’s surprised me the most,” Hiller said. “Well, how well he’s played without the puck, that’s the biggest surprise, and how dangerous he is off the rush. He has good hockey sense. Kopi and Juice are really good rush players, too, so he fits in really well with that line.”
NOTE
Longtime broadcaster Nick Nickson, who will retire at season’s end, was honored before the game.