FINAL – Kings 4, Jets 1 – Kuzmenko, Kuemper, Hiller

The LA Kings improved to 28-4-4 on home ice this season, as they skated to a 4-1 victory over the league-leading Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

The Kings opened the scoring midway through the first period, as forward Trevor Moore found the back of the net for the second straight game. Off a Winnipeg turnover in their own end, defenseman Joel Edmundson fired the puck towards the net, with Moore deflecting the shot past Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and in for his 17th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead for the hosts.

Just under 90 seconds later, the Kings doubled their lead with a highlight-reel goal off the rush. Forward Adrian Kempe gained the offensive blueline in transition and fed linemate Andrei Kuzmenko in the slot. Kuzmenko faked the shot, which opened up forward Anze Kopitar in the right-hand circle, and Kuzmenko fed Kopitar for the one-timer goal, his 19th of the season, which sent the Kings into the first intermission with a 2-0 advantage.

After the Kings were not able to convert on a power play just past the halfway point of the second period, Winnipeg scored shortly after to get on the board. Out of the penalty box, forward Cole Perfetti led a 2-on-1 rush the other way in transition, working his way down the right wing. Perfetti kept the puck himself for the shot and beat Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper blocker side, inside the far post, to bring the visitors within 2-1.

Inside four minutes to play in the second period, the Kings pulled back ahead by a pair, thanks to a fantastic individual effort from Kuzmenko. As Winnipeg defenseman Logan Stanley advanced the puck up the ice, Kuzmenko poked it free in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 rush in the other direction. The Russian forward kept the puck himself and scored with a shot along the ice to make it 3-1 Kings.

With just under a minute to play in regulation, the Kings iced the game with an empty-net goal from forward Adrian Kempe to put the game away at 4-1.

Hear from Kuzmenko, Kuemper and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s victory.

Andrei Kuzmenko

Darcy Kuemper
On a playoff-type feel to tonight’s game, in that every chance felt important
Yeah, we knew it would be. That’s been probably the best team in the league all year. We knew they’d be ready to play and they came out hard and I thought we picked up our intensity and matched it right away, early on. Then, we got some big goals in the first and that kind of gave us momentum.

On if he felt tonight was close to the definition of a “Kings win”
Yeah, I think that’s kind of been the model we’ve wanted all year. We’ve won a lot of games in that way and we’re confident we can win in other ways, but if we were to draw up a perfect format, that would be it.

On the performance of Andrei Kuzmenko since he joined the Kings
He’s come in and I think he’s seen the effort that guys play with and the commitment to playing both ends of the rink hard and he’s bought in right away. I mean, you watch him off the puck, how hard he’s tracking back and everything and that kind of energy is leading to him getting rewarded on the other end as well. So it’s been great.

On if there’s anything he’s felt has gone well for the Kings in three wins over Winnipeg
I think all year when we’ve been playing against the top teams, we’ve really gotten up for those games. We like to challenge ourselves and those are great measuring sticks playing against a team like them and I think the top teams bring out the best in us, make us play our best hockey. I think that’s why we’ve had so much success.

Jim Hiller
On tonight’s defensive performance and if it felt like a playoff-style of hockey game
It was good game. We played good, it’s a really good team, they don’t give you much, it was a good effort. I thought that was [a playoff-style game]. I thought we played better defense against Toronto than we did tonight. The penalty kill, of course, tonight was a big story. I thought that was rock solid, that was easy to see, but we capitalized. When we capitalize, we’re usually hard to come back on.

On the team’s success this season versus Winnipeg
If there’s one team that we’ve played extremely well against this year, it would be Winnipeg. It goes back to the game we lost in San Jose, we had them up next, they were the first place team in the league like tonight, so I think it really got us focused in. The game in Winnipeg was a strong game for us, same way, and then tonight too. I’m sure they’re frustrated with us. We play similar style, I think, they don’t give up much. I think they’ve given up less goals than us, so both teams, it’s whoever can find the back of the net and we had a couple of nice ones.

On the contributions that Andrei Kuzmenko continues to bring to the team
You guys have watched it too, just like us, it’s really hard to believe, to be honest with you. I don’t think in our wildest dreams could we have expected him to come in and we know he had the big year in Vancouver, but he really seems to have got his game back. I remember him in Vancouver, didn’t see him that much and he was really dangerous on the power play, but right now, he’s just all over the ice. I mentioned it before, you see him on the backcheck too, right, he’s just quite a player right now.

On the areas he expected Kuzmenko to thrive in versus where he’s been surprised
I would have said my evaluation would have been he’s a really strong o-zone player, like in the offensive zone, like we’ve talked about. I didn’t know he would be this strong off the rush. That’s probably the thing that surprised me a little bit, is how well he’s played [off the rush]. Well, really, a couple things, how well he’s played without the puck, one, biggest surprise. Two is how dangerous he is off the rush and good hockey sense. Kopi and Juice are really good rush players too, so he just fits in really well with that line.

On his assessment of Drew Doughty’s game
I think it’s good. I don’t think he’s 100 percent, he’s not 100 percent physically, I think that’s clear. So, it’s hard to evaluate him based on who he’s been over time, because just physically, he’s just not there. So, I think based on the circumstances, everything he’s based on and continues to on a daily basis, I think he’s doing a really good job for us.

Hiller also confirmed post-game that forwards Tanner Jeannot and Alex Turcotte would not travel with the Kings to Utah tomorrow.

Notes –
• Forward Adrian Kempe (1-1=2) scored his team-leading 32nd goal of the season after notching his 30th helper of the campaign to clinch his second consecutive 30-assist season. Tonight’s performance also extends Kempe’s point streak against the Jets to a fourth game (3-4=7) and marks his third consecutive multi-point effort against the club (3-3=6) dating back to Nov. 11, 2024.
• Forward Andrei Kuzmenko (1-1=2) scored his 10th goal of the season and picked up his 19th assist to record back-to-back multi-point games (2-3=5). With his unassisted goal in the second period tonight, Kuzmenko now has 10 tallies on the season, his fourth with the Kings. He now has nine points (4-5=9) in his last six home games, dating back to March 22 vs. Carolina. The winger also has nine points (3-6=9) in 11 career appearances against the Winnipeg Jets.
• Captain Anze Kopitar (1-1=2) scored his 19th goal of the season and tallied his 43rd assist of the campaign, extending his point streak against the
Jets to an eighth game (8-4=12), dating back to Feb. 28, 2023.
• Kopitar’s goal marked his 300th career even-strength tally, becoming the fourth player in franchise history with as many even-strength goals: Marcel Dionne (369), Luc Robitaille (344) and Dave Taylor (304).
• Forward Trevor Moore (1-0=1) scored his 17th goal of the season, marking his ninth career point (4-5=9) against the Jets. Moore’s nine career points against Winnipeg are third most on the team since his Kings debut in the 2019-20 season, trailing only Adrian Kempe (5-7=12) and Anze Kopitar (10-8=18).
• Defenseman Joel Edmundson (0-1=1) picked up his 14th assist of the season, establishing a new single-season career high for assists. With the helper, Edmundson reaches the 20-point mark (6-14=20) for the second time in his career (7-13=20; 2019-20 with CAR).
• Edmundson skated in his 600th career NHL game tonight, becoming the 31st skater and eighth defenseman selected in the 2011 NHL Draft to reach the mark. He also set a new single-season career high in games played by skating in his 70th contest of the campaign this evening.
• Edmundson (Brandon, MB) becomes the first Manitoba-born defenseman, and second Manitoba-born skater overall, to skate in his 600th career game with the Kings, joining St. Boniface, MB native Butch Goring.
• Edmundson becomes the fourth Kings defenseman to record an assist in his 600th game, joining Terry Harper, Rick Lapointe, Marty McSorley, and Ian Turnbull, while also becoming the first Manitoba-born skater to record a point in his 600th NHL game against either iteration of the Manitoba-based Winnipeg Jets franchise.
• Forward Warren Foegele (0-1=1) recorded his 21st assist of the season, tying his single-season career high previously set in 2023-24. Foegele becomes the first Kings skater to record an assist on his birthday since Jordan Spence (0-1=1) on Feb. 24, 2025 vs. VGK. It is the second time in
Foegele’s career he has notched a point on his birthday, doing so on April 1, 2021 (2-0=2; with CAR).
• Forward Jeff Malott led all Kings forwards in blocked shots tonight, establishing a new single-game career best with three.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 18 saves on 19 shots faced in tonight’s contest to improve his record to 26-10-7 on the campaign.

The Kings are scheduled to practice tomorrow at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center, before traveling to Utah later in the day.