FINAL – Kings 5, Canucks 1 – Fiala, Turcotte, Hiller

The LA Kings scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of the game, ultimately skating to a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday evening at Rogers Arena.

On the first shift of the game, the Kings got on the board early with the game’s first goal. Forward Adrian Kempe chipped the puck out of the defensive zone, sped to collect it and entered the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 rush. Kempe held the puck until the last second, before he fed forward Alex Turcotte driving the net for the goal, Turcotte’s sixth of the season, and a 1-0 advantage.

Turcotte doubled his tally for the game, and the Kings advantage overall, midway through the opening period with his first career two-goal game in the NHL. Operating this time in the offensive zone, forward Kevin Fiala danced his way into the high slot and got a shot on net, with the rebound kicking directly to Turcotte, who crashed the net and scored his seventh of the season.

Just 24 seconds after Turcotte’s goal, he created another, picking up his third point of the game. As Turcotte drove towards the net, he sticklifted a Vancouver defenseman and dropped the puck to Kempe, who deked to his forehand and slotted it past Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko for his team-leading 21st goal of the season. Turcotte’s helper gave him the first three-point game of his NHL career, as the Kings took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

With the teams skating 4-on-4, the Canucks got on the board with 5:08 left in the second period. Defenseman Quinn Hughes worked his way across the blueline, eventually getting into the left-hand circle. He used a quick release to get a shot through traffic, on net and past Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper, bringing the hosts back to within 3-1.

The Kings swung the momentum back late in the second period as Fiala restored the three-goal advantage just 66 seconds after the Hughes goal. On an abbreviated power play, forward Trevor Moore fed Fiala down the left wing, moving in 2-on-1. Fiala kept the puck himself, dragged it onto his forehand in the slot and beat Demko clean on the glove side for his 15th goal of the season and a 4-1 lead.

Midway through the third period, forward Warren Foegele made it 5-1 with his 12th goal of the season. After forward Quinton Byfield won a battle behind the Vancouver net, Demko lost sight of the puck, but Foegele quickly put it onto his backhand and scored at the near post, extending the Los Angeles lead to four goals.

Hear from Fiala, Turcotte and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s victory.

Kevin Fiala

Alex Turcotte
On the start the Kings had in tonight’s game
For sure, it was a lot of fun, you’ve got to take them when you can. We talked about it this morning, we needed to get more goals on the board. We did that tonight and we still played great defense, so yeah, it was nice for those to go in.

On his second goal, capitalizing by driving to the net
Kevin made a great play, he kind of rolled up high and the rebound kind of went right to me so I got a good bounce for sure. I didn’t really overthink it, just placed it perfectly. I think when the first one went in, you feel pretty confident, you feel good and don’t overthink those.

On his no-look assist to Adrian Kempe
Yeah, Kopi made a great play just to get it to me and I kind of stick-lifted the defenseman that was in my way and I knew there was support behind me. It was great for him to be there for me and definitely it was a nice play for sure.

On setting career highs in goals and assists in a game tonight
It’s been great this year, it’s been everything I’ve dreamed of. To go through the adversity early in my career, this just definitely feels good, but I want to keep pushing. I’m not satisfied, I want to keep going and see where I can go from here.

Jim Hiller
On getting three goals in 10 minutes to start the game tonight
We hadn’t scored much the first three games [of this trip], but it wasn’t like we weren’t getting chances, you know what I mean? That’s always maybe a cliche but it’s really the most important part and we have played some good teams in some tough buildings. So, nice to see the puck go in. It went in, probably we got a little lucky at the start, but we’ll take them, kind of balances itself out and got a little bit back tonight.

On the importance of the two early PK’s to set the tone in the first period
Yeah, I thought it was probably the most important part of the game. I know there was two but that was the most important moment because they have a really good power play, dangerous and we were dialed in. We made some really good reads and it just kind of settled us in, I think.

On seeing Alex Turcotte deliver tonight with career highs in goals and points
He’s been really good for us. I guess you call it a bit of a surprise, I think even for us. He played some games last year, he did well, had time playing with Kopitar when Kempe was out, but we didn’t expect to see him playing as much as he is and playing as well as he is. The thing I like about him is he’s very responsible. Plays both ways, gets through the neutral zone, d-zone blocks shots, so it’s really a credit to him. He’s taken a little bit longer than some of his peers, but he’s got it going now.

On Kevin Fiala’s goal, 66 seconds after Vancouver scored
That was the biggest goal of the game, I thought. We got a few early, but I thought that was the biggest goal of the game. Nice to see Kevin shoot one, he’s had some 2-on-1’s, he looks to pass a lot, so that was great execution by him to drag. He’s on his strong side. he’s probably more dangerous on his strong side. Heck of a play.

On Fiala’s game tonight and as of late
I think he’s been really working, I think he’s really been working, and we give him the freedom to try to make some plays. He’s very dynamic and he balances that with being responsible. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out but I’ve really liked his game for a long time here now. It probably hasn’t translated into points, which is what a lot of people measure him on. I think he’s going to be really good in the second half.

Notes –
• Forward Alex Turcotte (2-1=3) recorded his first career three-point game and three-point period, becoming the first skater selected in the 2019 NHL Draft to record a three-point game for the Kings. The 23-year-old opened the scoring 51 seconds into the contest, marking the third time that the Kings have scored in the first minute of a game this season. Only the Oilers and Panthers have done so more (both w/ 4), per NHL PR.
• Forward Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) scored his 21st goal of the season and picked up his 20th assist of the campaign for his third-straight 20-assist season, and the fifth of his career in total. Kempe becomes the 28th different skater to record five 20-helper seasons with the Kings, and third skater of Swedish nationality to do so, joining Juha Widing (5) and Tomas Sandstrom (5).
• With his pair of points, Kempe ties teammate Anze Kopitar (12-29=41) for the team lead in scoring (21-20=41). The assist clinched Kempe’s fourth consecutive 40-point season, becoming the second Swedish skater in franchise history with four such seasons, joining Widing (5).
• Kempe has now scored seven points (3-4=7) over his last six games against the Canucks, dating back to April 2, 2023.
• Forward Kevin Fiala (1-1=2) recorded his 15th goal and ninth assist of the season. Fiala has now scored five points (3-2=5) over his last four games against the Canucks, dating back to March 25, 2024.
• Forward Warren Foegele (1-0=1) scored his 12th goal of the season and has now recorded a point in back-to-back games against the Canucks (0-1=1; Nov. 7,
2024).
• Forward Quinton Byfield (0-1=1) tallied his 12th assist of the season, extending his road assist streak against the Canucks to a third game (0-4=4), dating back to Feb. 29, 2024. Byfield joins Steve Bozek (1-3=4; Dec. 26, 1981 – Jan. 24, 1982) as the only skaters in franchise history to record a three-game road assist-streak against the Canucks before turning 23 years old.
• Defenseman Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) recorded his 20th assist of the season. Clarke becomes the fourth blueliner selected in the 2021 NHL draft to record a 20-assist season, joining Luke Hughes (1x), Owen Power (2x) and JJ Moser (2x).
• Captain Anze Kopitar (0-1=1) notched his 29th assist of the season, extending his road point- and assist-streak against the Canucks to a fourth game (2-5=7), dating back to April 2, 2023. With the assist, Kopitar becomes the 32nd different player in League history to record 30 career points (7-23=30) as a visitor in Vancouver. The assist marked Kopitar’s 44th career assist against the Canucks, breaking a tie with Connor McDavid (43A) for the most by an active skater against the franchise.
• Kopitar skated in his 711th career road game tonight, tying him with Scott Mellanby for the 36th most in League history.
• Forward Trevor Moore (0-1=1) tallied his 13th assist of the season, extending his point streak against the Canucks to a third game (1-2=3), dating back to April 6, 2024.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper turned aside 20 of Vancouver’s 21 shots on goal in tonight’s contest to improve his record to 13-3-5 on the season. Per NHL PR, the netminder improved to 9-1-2 since Dec. 7 – only Connor Hellebuyck (12-1-2) and Logan Thompson (10-1-1) have more wins over that span.

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 1 PM at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.