Andrei Kuzmenko picked up his first goal and first assist as a King in a three-goal first period Saturday, sparking a 7-2 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes at Crypto.com Arena.
The win was the seventh in eight games for the Kings, matching their best streak of the season, while the margin of victory was the most one-sided. The victory also pulled the Kings back into a tie with Edmonton for second in the Pacific Division, ahead of the Oilers’ game against Seattle late Saturday.
Kuzmenko joined the team at the trade deadline and though the Kings have lost just once since his arrival, his name hadn’t appeared on the scoresheet until Saturday.
“Sometimes you make plays and the puck goes in the net and you get an assist,” coach Jim Hiller said before the game. “Sometimes you make plays, and for whatever reason the puck doesn’t go on the net and you don’t get any assists. He can’t lose his confidence.”
Speaking of confidence, Carolina came in riding a league-best eight-game winning streak, but the Kings, who scored on half of their first-period shots, needed just three minutes to go in front.
Adrian Kempe, coming off the bench on a line change, took the puck from Samuel Helenius at the red line, skated into the Hurricanes’ end, then beat Pyotr Kochetkov from the top of the right circle. The goal was his team-leading 29th of the season, topping his total from 2023-24.
Anze Kopitar doubled the lead late in the period when his centering pass for Kempe deflected in off the skate of Carolina’s Jordan Martinook eight seconds into a power play. The assist went to Kuzmenko, who made it 3-0 with his first goal as a King five seconds before the first intermission.
But the Kings didn’t let up, with Trevor Moore, Tanner Jeannot and Quinton Byfield doubling the lead to 6-0 with goals less than three minutes apart early in the second period. The seven goals allowed was a season worst for Carolina, which finally got on the board on Dmitry Orlov’s goal with 5:43 left in the middle period. The Kings argued for goalie interference on the play but their appeal was denied.
The Kings’ Kevin Fiala and Carolina’s Mark Jankowski exchanged goals in the last two minutes to account for the final score.
The Kings face Boston in the second game of a back-to-back Sunday.
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