The Kings bounced back and defeated the division rival Seattle Kraken 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. After falling to the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 during the week, the Kings continued their low scoring game trend by shutting the opponent down and came out victorious with a pair of goals on this occasion.
The Kings came out hot to begin the game, pressing the Kraken with speed and an aggressive forecheck, but were unable to find the back of the net in the first 20 minutes. Midway into the opening period the Kraken also found their game, but like the Kings couldn’t score. Shots favored the Kraken 5-4 after 20 minutes.
Enter period two and the Kings netted the game’s first goal. Coming 4:19 into the period, Alex Turcotte fed Adrian Kempe beautifully with a pass in the slot. Kempe quickly rifled a shot past the recently stingy Joey Daccord and put the Kings up 1-0. The Kings continued to push in the middle stanza while limiting the Kraken’s opportunities and a power play opportunity was rewarded as a result. Coming just 1:44 after the Kempe goal, Quinton Byfield ripped a one-timer off of a pass from Kevin Fiala and doubled the Kings lead. With the goal, Byfield, who played in his 200th career NHL game on Saturday also collected his 98th career point (31-67=98).
The Kings kept the Kraken at bay for the majority of the third period, but did eventually surrender a goal late with an extra attacker on the ice for the visitors. Brandon Montour brought the Kraken within one with 1:34 remaining in regulation, but the Kings would lock it down from then on and prevailed for the two points.
David Rittich was outstanding all night and continued his impressive string of starts, stopping 19 of 20 shots faced. Going back to his last three starts, Rittich has allowed just one goal in each game and has stopped 54 of 57 shots, good for a .947 SV%.
