The Kings return to game action after two weeks and earn 30th win
The Kings returned to play on Saturday after a two week hiatus. Beginning the unofficial second half of the season, the Kings defeated the Utah Hockey Club 5-3 after trailing multiple times in the game. The regulation win over Utah gives the Kings a 2-0-0 record against the Hockey Club this season and moves their NHL-best home record to an outstanding 18-3-2.
The Kings surrendered the game’s first goal on Saturday night and fell behind 7:54 into the opening period. Following a Kings penalty, Utah went on the game’s first power play and converted after just 18 seconds. Tipping in a Nick Schmaltz shot, Barrett Hayton’s in close deflection got through the blocker side of Darcy Kuemper and into the back of the net. Now trailing, the Kings quickly responded. Coming 26 seconds after Hayton’s game-opening goal, Drew Doughty blasted a one-timer from the point off of a pass from Kevin Fiala and netted his first goal of his very brief 2024-25 season. No offense followed in the remaining 11-plus minutes of the first period and the team’s went into intermission knotted at 1-1.
Utah retook the lead 5:50 into the second period and did so in the same exact way they scored their first goal. Coming on the power play, Hayton buried his second goal of the night on the man advantage, this time with a rebound putback. Again trailing by a goal, the Kings again responded in timely fashion. This time on their own power play, Anze Kopitar set Fiala up on a tee and the red hot winger picked up right where he left off prior to the break, burying a one-timer short-side high for his sixth goal in the last five games. Then, with 3:50 remaining in the period, Alex Laferriere notched his career high 15th goal of the season with a backhander on a contested breakaway. The Kings would take a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Opening the third period on a 1:59 power play, the Kings would not convert on the man advantage, but would add to their lead at the halfway marker of the stanza. Following another one-timer, this one by Jordan Spence, Trevor Lewis found the immediate rebound and beat Utah’s Connor Ingram five hole to double the Kings lead. This time responding quickly was Utah, who cut the Kings lead back to one just 1:19 after the Lewis goal. Completing the hat trick for Utah was Hayton who scored his third goal right where he’d tallied his previous two, on top of the crease from a rebound. Back to a one goal game, Mikey Anderson added an insurance goal late with a 195-foot bullseye into an empty Utah net, securing the Kings 30th win of the season.
Kuemper pitched a shutout against everybody on Utah except Hayton, stopping 25 of 28 shots, earning his 17th win of the season.
UTA at LAK | Recap
