LOS ANGELES — There was a legends night vibe on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, where Anže Kopitar’s Kings stumbled against Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals, 3-1.
The two captains, who have combined for a staggering 41 years of NHL service, each contributed. Kopitar notched an assist and Ovechkin recorded two helpers. Ovechkin is the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer, while Kopitar closed the gap to 15 points between him and the Kings’ all-time points leader, Marcel Dionne.
Adrian Kempe scored the Kings’ lone goal. Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves.
Tom Wilson, Anthony Beauvillier and Aliaksei Protas each picked up a goal for Washington. Logan Thompson stopped 24 shots.
The Kings saw their five-game points streak end and have lost five of their past seven outings. Washington won its eighth game in nine opportunities.
With 1:42 to play, the Capitals drove a nail into the Kings’ coffin when Protas danced past Kempe and found the empty net.
Despite an all-around solid game and his promotion to the top power-play unit – the Kings went 0 for 2 with the man advantage – Brandt Clarke forced a shot up top that led to a goal for the second game in a row.
His attempt was stuffed by Connor McMichael, who cruised down the ice playing pitch-and-catch with Ovechkin, until they were joined by Beauvillier, who nudged in the go-ahead goal 78 seconds into the third period.
Shortly after Brandon Duhaime’s infraction was up, Clarke, who had just hit the net with a long shot, attempted another that was stuffed by Connor McMichael.
With 54 seconds left in the second period, Washington took exception to Joel Edmundson’s hit on Ethen Frank, leading to a fight between Edmundson and Duhaime.
Despite being more than doubled up in shots, the Kings managed a goal 5:28 into the middle frame to knot the score and enliven their game, ending the period with a 14-8 edge in shots.
On their goal, a strong defensive play along the wall by Clarke separated Beauvillier from the puck, as Capitals defenseman Rasmus Sandin was caught well inside the offensive blue line. Trevor Moore collected the puck and eased it up to Kopitar at the opposite blue line. With former King Matt Roy smothering him in the right circle, he still threaded the needle to a streaking Kempe for a redirection, his ninth goal of the season.
Through 20 minutes, the visitors held a 12-3 shot advantage and a 1-0 lead thanks to Wilson’s power-play goal, assisted by the 40-year-old Ovechkin and rookie Ryan Leonard. Since Oct. 22, the Kings had allowed the fewest power-play goals in the NHL.
Ovechkin heaved the puck from the left-wing wall to the slot for a redirection by Wilson, creating a rebound for Leonard. He managed to get the puck across the crease to Wilson, who tapped it in comfortably for his fourth goal in three games and team-leading 16th of the season.
The Capitals all lined up after the game to shake hands with Kopitar, who is retiring after this season.
More to come on this story.