Kevin Fiala, Kings bounce back from slow start to beat Sharks
LOS ANGELES — Shaking off a tepid start following the NHL’s three-day Christmas break, the Kings had little trouble securing consecutive home victories for the second time this season.
Beating the Pacific Division bottom-dwelling San Jose Sharks for the second time in less than two weeks, the Kings moved past a dismal opening 20 minutes to win, 5-1, at Crypto.com Arena.
Adrian Kempe had two goals, Kevin Fiala scored after being benched in the first period and Trevor Lewis and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored for the Kings, who have won four of their last five games. David Rittich made 24 saves, following a 4-1 win and near-shutout in his season debut against San Jose on Dec. 19 with another strong performance.
Fabian Zetterlund scored and Kaapo Kahkonen allowed five goals on 40 shots for the Sharks, who lost their sixth straight.
The Kings’ Fiala giveth and taketh away on the game’s initial two goals.
The Sharks managed just 16 shots on goal in the teams’ previous meeting. But on Wednesday, as visitors, they snatched a deserved lead after controlling the first 10 minutes and putting the puck on the Kings’ net.
A sloppy back pass by Fiala at the San Jose blue line was intended for defender Mikey Anderson, but Zetterland intercepted it and bisected the two before charging at Rittich on the opposite end of the ice.
Zetterland’s 10th of the season came unassisted under the goalkeeper’s glove at the 11:04 mark.
Making his second start with the Kings since being called up from the Ontario Reign, Rittich was tested by eight shots from San Jose in the first period – more than San Jose put on him during any period in his Kings debut last week.
Meanwhile, the Kings’ offense was nowhere to be found in the second of four regular-season meetings between the in-state rivals.
Following a measly six attempts in the first period, the Kings took it to San Jose the rest of the way, starting with some redemption for Fiala less than three minutes after play resumed.
This time it was Fialia, who was benched for the final 8:58 of the first period following his poor pass, who corralled the puck near the opposition’s blue line, leading to a game-tying breakaway as he beat Kahkonen on the glove side.
Thirteen seconds later, at 3:10 of the second period, the Kings took a lead they would not relinquish when Lewis beat an opposing defender to the puck behind the Sharks’ net, scoring his fifth goal of the season with a low backhander.
Dubois tallied his second goal in as many matches at 12:26, finding the back of the net off a rebound from an Arthur Kaliyev slap shot that gave the Kings a 3-1 lead headed to the third.
Kempe scored both of his goals in the final period, giving him 11 for the season, after connecting on a redirect from defenseman Matt Roy, and then skating through the San Jose defense to put a five-spot on Kahkonen through the five-hole as the contest approached its conclusion.
Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov was activated off injured reserve after missing five games, and the Russian played more than 20 minutes.
The outcome marked a record sixth straight win for the Kings (20-7-4) over the Sharks (9-23-3), the 45th all-time victory at home against San Jose.
More to come on this story.