FINAL – Kings 4, Rangers 3 – Kempe, Forsberg, Hiller

The LA Kings snapped a four-game losing streak as they defeated the New York Rangers by a 4-3 final score on Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

It took just 18 seconds for the Kings to get on the board as forward Adrian Kempe made it back-to-back games with a goal. In his return to the Kings lineup, forward Corey Perry hit Kempe with a stretch pass down the right wing to create an odd-man rush. Kempe exchanged quick passes with defenseman Brandt Clarke, who had joined the rush, with Kempe finishing from the right-hand circle for his 17th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Midway through the first period, the Rangers answered with a bit of a fortunate bounce to tie the game at one. Defenseman Scott Morrow made a nice move as he activated in from the right point, dragging the puck onto his forehand in the slot. Morrow’s shot was saved by Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, but the rebound deflected off the skate of Kings blueline Jacob Moverare and in for his first goal of the season and a 1-1 score.

The Kings responded almost immediately, as forward Kevin Fiala restored the lead for the hosts just 42 seconds after the New York goal. Fiala was the beneficiary of a turnover right in front of the Rangers net, as he stole the puck and buried from close range. Fiala’s goal was his 18th of the season, pushing him back into the team lead, one clear of Kempe.

Inside four minutes to play in the opening period, the Rangers capped off a four-goal period in total with the tying goal from forward J.T. Miller. Forward Mika Zibanejad was the facilitator, as he took the puck at the point and drove down the right wing, before he centered the pick to Miller, alone in front, for a tap-in goal. Zibanejad extended his scoring streak to ten games with the assist, which tied the game at two through 20 minutes of play.

Just over four minutes into the middle stanza, the Kings got a big goal from their fourth line to pull back in front. Some solid work along the wall from forwards Jeff Malott and Samuel Helenius kept the puck alive in the offensive zone, before Malott zipped it into the middle of the ice for forward Taylor Ward, who capitalized on a misplay in front to knock home his first goal of the season, putting the hosts ahead 3-2.

Los Angeles doubled its advantage midway through the second period as forward Andrei Kuzmenko got in on the action. Forward Kevin Fiala rotated towards the top of the offensive zone and after his shot from the center point was kept out by New York goaltender Jonathan Quick, the puck fell to Kuzmenko in front, where he knocked home the rebound on the backhand for a two-goal lead after 40 minutes.

The Rangers scored a late goal, inside the final 30 seconds of regulation, to pull within 4-3, but the Kings were able to close out a 4-3 victory to snap a four-game losing streak.

Hear from Kempe, goaltender Anton Forsberg and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s win.

Adrian Kempe

Anton Forsberg
On his mindset coming into the game cold after an injury to Kuemper
At that time, it happened so quick, so it was end of the period, a couple of seconds left, so at that point, just get through the first and then see what happens after that. Focus on what I can do and just play my game. Came in here and I found out that I was going to play the whole game, so at that point, it’s just focusing yourself. It’s nothing different from starting a game from the start, still the same game. I have the same job no matter what.

On the 5-on-3 penalty kill and its importance in the game
I thought we won the game by killing that off. Every time you kill a 5-on-3, it brings a lot of energy and I thought we did a really good job of getting that off the books and we scored right after that, and kind of were in the front seat there.

On his observations of the team’s start tonight
I thought we started real well. I mean, we were coming out there, we’re creating a lot of chances. I thought we created chances the whole game. They played a good game too, but we scored more goals, and that’s who wins the game. It was fun to watch, to watch our offensive side of the game today, I thought it was great.

On his readiness to step up should Kuemper be out for any time
It’s my job, so I’m as ready as I can be.

Jim Hiller
On Anton Forsberg’s play coming in cold off the bench
Oh, I thought he was excellent. That one probably saved the game. I would say on the penalty kill, specifically, that was a pretty impressive couple minutes for him there. We had some good shot blocks also, we were desperate, some good things happened, but you guys all saw it, he made some great saves.

On the importance of that 5-on-3 kill
Yeah, probably the turning point of the game, I think. Who knows what we’re talking about if they get one there. That was just great. I know the fans really got into it, I think they really appreciated the experts of Forsy during that time. That was probably the pivotal moment of the game. I thought, besides the offensive zone faceoffs for them, the 6-on-5, the power play, I thought the rest of the r5-on-5, play when it was just free play, up and down the ice, I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting them and their threats.

On Taylor Ward’s goal and seeing him finally get rewarded for his chances
Yeah, what a great goal, just all three of them, right? Helenius, Malott and of course [Ward] got to finish it. Just a good, hardworking forechecking goal. Big, strong guys, win puck battles, muck it up and then good to see him rewarded finally. Then, hen he had another great chance down the wing again too. Those guys didn’t play a lot, but I thought they played really well once again.

On getting Corey Perry back and his impact on the game tonight
If you go back, we went into Edmonton and he joined us, I don’t know what the number was, but I would guess he played maybe 15, 16 minutes and they played against against McDavid’s line a lot of that night, I elevated him when he was with Byfield and Foegele that night. Then we came home, he stayed with Byfield and played I think 17 minutes against Johnston, Dallas, that line, which is a pretty tough assignment. Then tonight, he played 19 minutes and a lot of that time was against Zibanejad’s line. So, not only is he elevated and helped us offensively, but he’s out there against the other team’s best line. Typically, I’ve spotted him off the fourth line in different roles, but man, I don’t know what to say. He’s only practiced like twice in the last two weeks and he’s out there against some of the best players in important minutes.

On players he thought stepped on tonight in the absence of Drew Doughty tonight
I would have to mention Eddie, he’s somebody that we don’t talk about a lot that way, leadership wise, but I think him and Perrs both are, without letters, secondary guys that really push hard. I think from that perspective, Eddie just does a great job and we really don’t talk about him enough, what he’s given to the organization. Ceci had a really good night tonight, him and Mikey Drew the assignment, they had Trocheck most of the night, so it’s good to see him step up. Then Moverare, who played extremely well last year, I thought he had a really strong game tonight. He made some plays with the puck offensively, which I thought made us a little more dangerous at the offensive blue line based on some decisions he made.

On Quinton Byfield’s performance in the faceoff dot tonight
I had him out there right until the end. We weren’t good in the faceoff circle at all. Quinton had a tough night, there’s no question, those numbers don’t lie, but I think as a team, we were below 30 percent anyway, so it’s not like we were stroking them back in other areas. The biggest faceoff of the night was Armia winning the 5-on-3 draw. I stuck with Q. Q’s important player for us, he’s going to grow, that’s an area that he will improve. They were dangerous and they had all righties, right? The righties are really good, Trocheck and Zibanejad, these guys went draws and they get on the other side, and Miller’s a good draw-man, when they want to put him on that dot, so that made it tough.

*Hiller added that he didn’t have a formal update on Darcy Kuemper, but indicated he did not believe it was related to his upper-body injury from earlier in the season.

*Additionally, Hiller shared that he does not have an update on whether or not Anze Kopitar could join the team on the upcoming roadtrip at this time, but should have a better sense on Thursday.

Notes –
– Forward Kevin Fiala (1-1=2) scored his 18th goal of the season and picked up his 18th assist for his sixth multi-point effort of the campaign, tying defenseman Brandt Clarke for the third-most on the team this season. Fiala now has three goals in his last two games against the Rangers (2-0=2; March 25, 2025), and eight goals (8-4=12) over his last nine games against New York, dating back to Jan. 28, 2022 (w/ MIN).
– Fiala skated in his 700th career game tonight, becoming the 41st player in franchise history to play his 700th career regular season contest in a Kings uniform. Fiala is the ninth skater in franchise history to score a goal in his 700th game. The native of St. Gallen, Switzerland, joins Roman Josi (1-1=2; Nov. 26, 2021) as the only two Swiss-born players in NHL history to record a multi-point effort in their 700th career game.
– Forward Adrian Kempe (1-0=1) opened the scoring with his 17th goal of the season just 18 seconds into tonight’s game, marking the Kings’ fastest goal from the start of a game since Warren Foegele (0:11 on Feb. 7, 2025). Kempe’s strike is the 11th-fastest goal from the start of a regular season game in franchise history; the list is topped by Tiger Williams, who scored seven seconds into a matchup with the Hartford Whalers on Feb. 14, 1987.
– Forward Taylor Ward (1-0=1) scored his first goal of the season tonight. Per NHL PR, Taylor’s father, Dixon Ward, was traded by the Canucks to the Kings for Jimmy Carson on Jan. 8, 1994, and played 34 games with Los Angeles that season. The elder Ward also played eight games with the New York Rangers in the 2002-03 campaign.
– Forward Andrei Kuzmenko (1-0=1) scored his 10th goal of the season, tying Corey Perry (10 G) and Joel Armia (10 G) for the fourth-most goals among Kings skaters this season. The goal is Kuzmenko’s fourth point (2-2=4) against the Rangers in eight career games played.
– Defenseman Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) recorded his 18th assist of the season on Kempe’s early strike, marking his first point against the Rangers on home ice in two games played. Clarke now ranks third on the Kings in assists, trailing only Quinton Byfield (19 A) and Adrian Kempe (21 A).
– Forward Corey Perry (0-1=1) tallied his 14th assist of the season, his 22nd career point (12-10=22) scored against the New York Rangers, tying Joe Pavelski (7-15=22) for the eighth-most points against the Rangers by a skater selected in the 2003 NHL Draft.
– Forward Jeff Malott (0-1=1) collected his second assist of the season for his fifth point of the campaign.
– Forward Samuel Helenius (0-1=1) recorded his first assist of the season and first point against the Rangers in three career games played.
– Forward Alex Turcotte (0-1=1) picked up his ninth assist of the campaign tonight, his third point (1-2=3) in his last two games against the Rangers, dating back to Dec. 14, 2024.
– Goaltender Anton Forsberg stopped 28 of 29 shots on goal to earn his eighth win of the season after entering the game late in the first period.

The Kings will not practice tomorrow, with the team scheduled to visit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for a team visit. The team will return to practice on Thursday, January 22 at Toyota Sports Performance Center.