LOS ANGELES — The Kings earned two points and avoided an ignominious distinction by beating one of the NHL’s top teams.
The Kings blanked the Winnipeg Jets, 3-0, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena – their first home win of the season and their third regulation victory (the third fewest in the NHL). They were the last Western Conference team to win on home ice, but the New York Rangers remained winless out East after being blanked by the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.
Winnipeg had won three straight games and brought the NHL’s best points percentage into the clash, a crown now worn by the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets had the best record in the league last season.
“We’ve played some pretty good hockey games at home and not won, that’s well-documented, so I think it just feels good to get one,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “It feels really good, and it was a total team effort.”
In addition to Darcy Kuemper’s first shutout of the season (23 saves) and Kevin Fiala’s drought-breaking power-play goal, it was a night of milestones for the Kings. Adrian Kempe scored career goal No. 200 and Drew Doughty’s empty-netter broke Rob Blake’s franchise record for goals by a defenseman. Joel Armia played in Game No. 600 and Corey Perry skated in his 1,400th match.
Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophy winner, stopped 23 of 25 shots for Winnipeg. Jets captain Adam Lowry (hip surgery) made his season debut.
With 53.8 seconds displayed on the game clock, Doughty turned a takeaway into an effortless empty-net goal to ice the Kings’ cake. Doughty’s goal moved him into sole possession of the franchise record for goals by a defenseman (162).
“It feels special, for sure, it’s a huge honor,” Doughty said. “I looked up to Rob Blake as a young boy, being an L.A. Kings fan. Coming into the league, it was never something I thought of, honest to God.”
The Kings’ penalty kill was unblemished for the fifth time in six games, killing all five penalties they took on Tuesday, and in the third period, the third Winnipeg penalty in a row was the charm for the Kings’ otherwise feeble power play.
“We went up to Winnipeg, it was a similar game, an even game up in Winnipeg,” said Hiller, who felt his penalty kill unit had its best game of the season. “We lost the special-teams battle and we lost the game (in Canada). Tonight we won the special-teams battle.”
After going 0 for their past 20 with the man advantage, Fiala’s flick from between the circles made good on the torrent of penalties for the Jets, who picked up a minor and a double minor in succession. It was Fiala’s sixth goal, keeping him in a tie with Kempe for the team lead.
Perry, who drew the double minor and got the primary assist on Fiala’s goal, is the 44th player in league history to cross the 1,400-game threshold and only four active players have logged more contests. They are his fellow 2003 draftees Ryan Suter and Brent Burns, as well as teammate Anže Kopitar and all-time goals leader Alex Ovechkin.
“He’s always in the thick of things,” Doughty said of Perry. “Even tonight, he gets (a high stick) in the face and he’s crying, trying to go back out there on the five-on-three. He can’t even open his eyes and he’s trying to get back out there. It just shows you the type of heart he has, how much he loves the game of hockey and how much he’ll do for his teammates.”
The second period came and went without a goal. In the final minute, fans almost witnessed a vintage Jonathan Toews moment. The former Chicago Blackhawks captain stole the puck at the offensive blue line and darted in on a partial breakaway, only to be denied by Kuemper.
It was Toews’ first game at Crypto.com Arena in nearly three years with his last appearance coming on Nov. 10, 2022. He missed the past two seasons and three of the past five due to chronic inflammatory response syndrome.
The first period brought little in the way of entertainment value, with more combined penalty minutes than combined shots on goal for much of the frame. But nearly every faceoff (85% of them) and the two pivotal moments in the period tilted in the Kings’ favor.
First, Winnipeg appeared to score on its first shot on goal of the game, but the marker was disallowed due to goalie interference by former King Gabriel Vilardi, a call that was upheld after Scott Arniel’s challenge.
“Our execution just wasn’t as crisp and as sharp as it usually was, and they did a pretty good job of keeping us on our heels,” Arniel said. “Offensively, we didn’t do enough to win the hockey game.”
While the Kings continued to struggle on the power play, they broke through five-on-five to open the scoring with 2:51 left in the frame.
Armia received the puck behind the net, where he manipulated defenseman Dylan DeMelo to set up a goal for Kempe. Armia faked toward one post, only to emerge from behind the other, slipping the puck to Kempe for a redirection goal. Kempe’s 200th career tally was also his sixth of the season.
Up next, the Kings host the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers on Thursday to close out their homestand.