Malgin, Avalanche edge Kings to keep pace in Central

LOS ANGELES -- The Colorado Avalanche kept pace in the Central Division race with a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

The Avalanche are tied for first place with the Dallas Stars, who defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a shootout Saturday. Colorado has a game in hand.
Denis Malgin scored twice, and Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves for the Avalanche (48-24-6), who won their ninth straight road game to tie their record set in 2009-10.
"Huge for our group," Colorado defenseman Brad Hunt said. "It's obviously been a very important road trip for us, and to keep moving that positivity forward is huge."

Adrian Kempe had two goals and an assist, and Anze Kopitar had three assists for the Kings (45-25-10), who have lost three straight and five of seven. Pheonix Copley allowed four goals on 23 shots.
With the loss, Los Angeles cannot finish higher than third in the Pacific Division, assuring the Edmonton Oilers home-ice advantage for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Kings are two points ahead of the Seattle Kraken for third after Seattle defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3 on Saturday.
"We're not happy about it at all," Los Angeles forward Quinton Byfield said. "We definitely want go into the playoffs with some wins, and we had a lot of big games that we lost. We're definitely upset."
Hunt gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead 1:50 into the third period on a slap shot off a face-off win by Lars Eller.

Malgin extended it to 4-2 at 6:18, scoring off a pass from Valeri Nichushkin. Malgin has an NHL career-high 12 goals in 62 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Avalanche this season. His previous best was 11 goals in 51 games for the Florida Panthers in 2017-18.
"I felt like we had a couple of guys that played well and were there to chip in a couple of goals, get some depth scoring," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said.
Kempe cut it to 4-3 at 6:44 with his second goal, a wrist shot from the right circle off the rush.
"I thought all four lines played some solid hockey," Byfield said. "I think we deserved a better outcome, but that's just how it goes sometimes."
Malgin put the Avalanche up 1-0 at 1:28 of the second period when his shot caromed off the glass, hit the top of the net and bounced in off Copley.
"Two unlucky bounces on the goal, but not much we can do about that," Kempe said.

Alex Newhook made it 2-0 at 2:30 after scoring five-hole with a backhand on a breakaway.
Kempe cut it to 2-1 at 7:34 on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
"His first goal there was really nice," Byfield said. "He used his speed, spot-placed it low blocker there. His spot and speed, it's a lethal combination."
Viktor Arvidsson tied it 2-2 at 12:55 on the power play after his shot from the left circle hit the skate of Devon Toews and redirected in.
"Obviously we would like to win more games, especially against playoff opponents that we could play, and haven't done that the last couple of games, so that's obviously frustrating," Kempe said. "But I think we feel like our game is there, which is a good thing."
Georgiev haș won seven consecutive road games, tying Patrick Roy (Oct. 23-Dec. 11, 1996) for the longest streak in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history.
"He's been a backbone for this team for the whole year," Hunt said. "His play is awesome. He gives us in front of him confidence, and it's awesome to see him doing so well."
NOTES: The Avalanche set a franchise record with their 27th road win; they had 26 in 2013-14. … Kempe has 38 goals this season, the most by a Kings player since Zigmund Palffy had 38 in 2000-01. … Kopitar passed 70 points (27 goals, 45 assists) for the eighth time with Los Angeles. Marcel Dionne had 12 such seasons, and Luc Robitaille did it 11 times. … Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram did not play because of a non-COVID-19 illness.