A late goal by Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe and a strong effort from Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper separated a tight-checking game and handed the Kings a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
Tampa Bay captain Victor Hedman opened the scoring just over a minute after the opening faceoff, but Los Angeles tied the game at 1-1 later in the first period.
Despite the Lightning outshooting the Kings 35 to 21 on Saturday, it was the hosts who got the game-winning goal in the third period. Kempe scored in front of the Lightning net to close the scoring, 2-1.
Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 19 saves, while Los Angeles won its ninth straight game at home with help from Kuemper’s 34 saves.
Tampa Bay, now 20-14-2 this season, closes a three-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks (16-18-4) on Sunday.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, LAK 0
1:09 Victor Hedman (5) - Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel
Tampa Bay’s captain needed only 69 seconds to start the scoring on Saturday. Hedman’s slap shot from the left point deflected off a Los Angeles defender and into the net for his fifth goal of the year and a 1-0 lead.
TBL 1, LAK 1
7:58 Mikey Anderson (5) - Phillip Danault
Another goal by a defenseman tied Saturday’s game. Los Angeles’ Mikey Anderson took a shot from the left point after a won faceoff in the offensive zone, a look that beat Vasilevskiy on the glove side.
Shots on goal: TBL 11, LAK 4
Second period
None
Shots on goal: TBL 8, LAK 7
Third period
LAK 2, TBL 1
14:12 Adrian Kempe (19) - Alex Turcotte
Los Angeles took their first lead of the game late in period three, when Kempe buried a shot from the inner hash marks after a drop pass from Alex Turcotte.
Total shots: TBL 35, LAK 21
