FINAL – Kings 3, Coyotes 2 – Arvidsson, Moore, McLellan

The LA Kings remained unbeaten in regulation in nine straight on the road, following a 3-2 victory in Arizona over the Coyotes.

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice, while Blake Lizotte also scored and Trevor Moore added two assists. Cal Petersen earned the victory with 17 saves between the pipes, his 13th of the season.

Arizona opened the scoring for the second straight game, with Clayton Keller the goalscorer. Just seconds after Petersen denied Barret Hayton on a partial breakaway, the Coyotes converted a 2-on-1 rush, with Keller burying a pass from Nick Schmaltz at the back post for his 21st goal of the season.

The Kings responded quickly, however, with goals less than a minute apart to open up a 2-1 advantage midway through the second period.

Just 18 seconds after Keller’s goal, the Kings got on the board through Lizotte, who got a deflection on a Mikey Anderson point shot to tie the game at one. Shortly thereafter, Arvidsson put the visitors on top for the first time, as he converted off of a tic-tac-toe passing play in the offensive zone, getting the finish at the back post with his linemates, Moore and Phillip Danault, amassing the assists.

The Coyotes came right back, however, to tie the game at two with 6:57 left in the second period. Hayton moved out of the corner and snapped a pass to the top of the crease, with forward Loui Eriksson getting a stick on the puck, deflecting it up and over Petersen to level the game once again.

With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Arvidsson struck again for the Kings to give his team its first lead of the evening. After he took a feed from defenseman Matt Roy, Arvidsson dragged the puck into the slot and snapped his shot past Arizona netminder Scott Wedgewood for the go-ahead goal.

Hear from Arvidsson, Moore and Todd McLellan following the road victory.

Viktor Arvidsson (TNT Interview)

Trevor Moore
On what put the Kings on top at the end of the game tonight
I don’t know, I guess just [sticking to it], but we had a lot to clean up tonight. It’s good that we got the win, but as a group, we know that we can be better than that. I’m glad that we got the two points, but we’ve got to keep pushing.

On if wanting more, even after a win, is a sign of an evolving team
Yeah, for sure. Arizona is a good team in their own right, I think that they were a tough opponent for us and they made it hard to get through the neutral zone, so credit to them. We’ve just got to keep getting better.

On Viktor Arvidsson’s game and his two goals tonight
He’s obviously a shooter, he calls for the puck a lot, he wants the puck, he’s competitive and he just finds open ice. It’s just something that good goalscorers are able to do on a consistent basis. We’re fortunate.

On the sequence of how the lines first goal tonight came about
We were kind of sitting back in the neutral zone and Phil was like “nah, let’s go forecheck”, so that’s great, that’s what we want to do, Phil started that whole thing off. We got up there, Phil had some good back pressure on them, made it hard, and a good bump pass by Phil and Arvy got in a good spot.

On the penalty kill coming up big tonight, after it was the power play on Saturday
Yeah, it’s huge. We talked about it, we can’t get to where we want to go unless we improve on special teams. It’s been a good little stretch for us.

Todd McLellan
On tonight’s game, a tighter-checking game than Saturday
I thought it was an even game all night, really. We had the shot advantage, I’m not sure if they were real quality chances and Wedgewood played well. They wouldn’t go away, they kept staying in the game and we didn’t make them go away, so that’s on us. We stuck with it, guys were saying and doing the right things for the most part, got a couple of saves when we needed it and a big kill at the end. At the end of the day, it was generally a team win. Tough day. I don’t know how it was for the Coyotes at home, but we flew in yesterday, basically an 8:30 start, we didn’t have a pre-game skate because we stayed [far from the rink]. Just a long day, it dragged on and on, I’m not sure that we had the energy we needed, but we found a way.

On scoring less than 30 seconds after conceding, for the second straight game
We talk about bump-up shifts, and obviously when something goes wrong, there’s a letdown on the bench and disappointment. That next line that goes out there, I think it was Lizzo’s line again, they generally provide us with some energy and bring us back in. Tonight, they scored, which was tremendous, it kept us around. It could have got worse, but it kept us around.

On Viktor Arvidsson’s game, since moving alongside Danault and Moore
He’s confident, he feels good playing with those guys, he’s shooting the puck from everywhere. He had an open net on the power play, and an open net on an open net, so he should have had a hat trick. I really think the combination of that line, they spend a lot of time together, they’re proud of how we play. We talk team identity, they have a line identity and they use it. He’s a big part of it.

On that first goal the second line scored, the forecheck and passing play
Yeah, it was the forecheck part. Mooresy probably doesn’t get the chance to poke the puck if Phil doesn’t get in on it right away. Earlier in the year, we talked about being more aggressive in those situations and they got it done, they made the play after too.

On the team’s road success here, especially of late
We should play that way all the time, we’ve just played a lot of road games lately, and we’ve got four more or five more coming up. This is our road time. It’s interesting because on Saturday, we go back and play a home game and we haven’t won at home since the middle of January, but we haven’t played at home since the middle of January, really. There’s no secret recipe, I really think the ability to play four lines, six D has a factor in it, and checking, I think when you’re on the road you have to check.

On the late kill tonight, against a 6-on-4 advantage
Yeah, and big moments in it. The shot block by Lizzo, walking down the heart and he lays out and blocks a shot, the bench recognizes that. We got some really good clears, forced them to ice the puck on the power play, that doesn’t happen often at 6-on-4. So, it went our way in certain situations, but we earned that.

Notes –

– Forward Viktor Arvidsson scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season, moving him into sole possession of second place on the Kings this season. It was Arvidsson’s third multi-goal game as a member of the Kings.
– Forward Trevor Moore collected assists on both of Arvidsson’s goals, his eighth multi-point game of the season.
– Forward Blake Lizotte scored a first-period goal, giving him seven on the season. Each member of the Kings’ fourth line has at least seven goals so far this season.
– For the second straight game, the Kings both answered an opponent’s goal in less than 20 seconds and also scored two of their own goals in less than 60 seconds.
– The Kings extended their unbeaten in regulation run on the road to nine games (7-0-2), tying the third-longest point streak in franchise history.

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.

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