Kempe breaks tie in 3rd period, Kings edge Lightning

LOS ANGELES -- Adrian Kempe broke a tie in the third period and the Los Angeles Kings won their ninth straight home game, 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

Mikey Anderson had a goal and Darcy Kuemper mad 34 saves for the Kings (23-10-5), who are on their third-longest home winning streak in franchise history. They won 12 consecutive games Oct. 10-Dec. 8, 1992 and 10 games Oct. 13-Nov. 20, 1990.

Los Angeles has won four in a row, all on home ice.

“Obviously, the fans can play a big factor in that,” Anderson said. “But even the way we won those games — some have been a complete 60 minutes where we feel like we’re on top of it the whole time. A game like today, maybe don’t have it for majority of the game, but still find a way to get one when we need it and lock ‘er down and then come away with the win. So I feel like it’s been a mix of everything, but again, that’s guys pulling different directions and a sign of a good team.”

Victor Hedman scored, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves, and the Lightning (20-14-2) have lost three in a row for the second time this season (Nov. 1-5).

“Certainly it’s frustrating,” Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “Felt like we were tilting the ice the majority of the game and were being patient there for the majority of the game. Just a couple of minutes and a couple of plays get away from us, and they capitalize.”

Kempe put Los Angeles up 2-1 at 14:12 of the third period on a wrist shot from the slot. Alex Turcotte had the assist, chasing down a turnover on a bad pass in the defensive zone and going on a 1-on-2 rush before finding a trailing Kempe.

“We needed somebody to make a play,” Kings head coach Jim Hiller said. “'Turc' makes a great play, ‘Juice’ (Kempe) finishes, and then we hang on by our fingertips.”

Kempe scored for the third straight game and extended his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists).

“In that spot he’s the guy you want shooting, there’s no question,” Hiller said. “Tough play for the goalie too because it happened quick, and ‘Juice’ was coming in right off the bench on a line change, so a lot of momentum. It’s a really nice goal. Best play we made, obviously, all night offensively.”

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said the giveaway on a pass by center Brayden Point that defenseman Nick Perbix couldn’t keep in the zone was “pressing a little too hard” on offense when it wasn’t necessary.

“It’s unfortunate, because you look at the totality of the game, and we couldn’t have played a better road game than what we played,” Cooper said. “To come out with zero points, it’s frustrating because this was a game, whoever was going to crack first was probably going to lose, and unfortunately we cracked, and it’s too bad because I think the boys deserved a better fate.”

Hedman scored his fifth goal of the season when his shot from the point deflected off Anderson’s stick 1:10 into the first period to put Tampa Bay up 1-0. It was Hedman’s 161st career goal, tying Tyler Johnson for seventh in Lightning history.

Anderson tied it up 1-1 at 7:58 on a slap shot off Phillip Danault’s face-off win. Anderson played a game-high 25:51 of ice time, including 11:22 in the third period.

“I didn’t think we had a lot of guys who were even up to an average level for the way they play, and for somehow, some way, Mikey was elite with a group that really struggled,” Hiller said. “Power to him. He’s playing some hockey, boy.”

NOTES: Kings forward Trevor Lewis played in his 1,000th career game, becoming the first Utah-born player to do so. It was Lewis’ first game back after missing 12 because of a lower-body injury. … Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson did not return after sustaining an apparent upper-body injury early in the third period. He landed hard on his neck after jumping up to keep the puck in the offensive zone and coming down on Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons. Edmundson was able to return to the bench in the final minutes.