FINAL – Kings 5, Sharks 1 – Gavrikov, Lewis, McLellan

The LA Kings picked up two points coming out of the NHL’s holiday break, with a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

San Jose scored the only goal of the first period, coming through forward Fabian Zetterlund. The Kings turned the puck over at their offensive blueline, which sent Zetterlund on a breakaway in the other direction. Zetterlund opted for a shot and snapped it past Kings netminder David Rittich for his tenth goal of the season and a 1-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

The Kings pushed back early in the second period, however, scoring twice in 13 seconds to take their first lead of the evening.

First, forward Kevin Fiala atoned for the earlier turnover with his team’s first goal, as he used his speed to generate a breakaway of his own, deking backhand-to-forehand for the goal, his seventh of the season, to knot the score at one. Forward Trevor Lewis scored on the very next sequence, as he forced a turnover deep in the offensive zone and moving out from below the goal line, he moved the puck to his backhand to score from a sharp angle, putting the hosts ahead 2-1.

The Kings doubled their advantage towards the end of the middle stanza through forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, who buried for the second consecutive game. Off a strong shift from his line in the offensive zone, forward Alex Laferriere fed linemate Arthur Kaliyev in the slot for a one-timer, with San Jose netminder Kaako Kahkonen making the save, but the rebound kicked to Dubois, who made no mistake for his seventh goal of the season.

During the third period, forward Adrian Kempe scored a pair of goals to bring the Kings to their final scoreline of 5-1.

First, Kempe stationed himself in the high slot, got his stick on a shot from the point from defenseman Matt Roy and re-directed the puck past Kahkonen for his tenth goal of the season. Late in the third period, Kempe buried his second goal of the evening off the rush, through the five hole, to complete his multi-goal night.

Hear from defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, Lewis and Head Coach Todd McLellan on tonight’s game.

Vladislav Gavrikov

Gavrikov spoke to the media following his first game back 👑🔊@LAKings | #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/76r0oG5VM7

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) December 28, 2023

Trevor Lewis
On what he felt changed tonight between the first 20 minutes and final 40 minutes
Having three days off, I think, we tried to get our legs under us in the first and then obviously got a little rust out and we got back to our game. Skating, forechecking and playing in their end a lot more.

On if winning a game like that is a sign of a good team
Yeah, I think so. I think after the first period, we came in and talked, said everybody let’s calm down and simplify things a little bit and then get back to forechecking. I thought we did that and we did a good job of it.

On his goal tonight and how he saw that play develop
Yeah, it was a great win by Lizzo and he just chipped it in and I just tried to get after it on the forecheck and turn pucks over. Fortunately we did and fortunately it went in.

On if he felt the two goals in 13 seconds were a turning point in the game
I think so. I think Kevin’s goal, it was a big response for us and then we went out and we scored again. I think that was a big momentum swing in the game and it got us going.

Todd McLellan
On what the message to the group was after the first period
A lot of times we’ll go in and try and give them something systematically or structurally to help them. It was simply they were faster, harder and more committed to doing things the right way than we were and there was no other adjustment we could give them. If they wanted to recover and pull themselves back into the game, they were capable of it and we saw it.

On the differences he saw in the team between the first 20 minutes and the final 40
Well, the exact opposite of what we didn’t see in the first period. I thought we were faster, I thought we were harder, we let the forecheck do some work instead of trying to be pretty going into the zone. Everybody got involved, more of a North/South game, a heavier game.

On how he felt Kevin Fiala responded to being benched in the first period
I thought it was a real good response, but we shouldn’t be put in that situation where we have to do that. We talked about it and we talked about it, those players have to play with risk in their game, we understand that, especially a creative guy like Kev, but it’s happening a little too often. It’s water under the bridge now. We all learn and I think he, for not having played a few shifts, he actually woke our team up, which sometimes it works in our favor too.

On the play of the Dubois and Lizotte lines tonight and as of late
Kopi’s line and Danault’s line, for the most part, other than moving Kev up there about 20 games ago, they’ve been able to stay together and play together for a long time and there’s a benefit to that. PL’s line, with injuries, as well as Lizzo being out, those two lines were in flux. They’re starting to gain some traction again and knowing how to play with each other is really important, chemistry as you said, they’re developing it.

On Adrian Kempe being drawn into tonight’s game and responding with two goals
I’ve said this to Juice, I think you better when people are mad at you, not me, but the opposition and I’m sure there were a few guys mad at him tonight, he played physical. Sometimes the glorious chances you have don’t always go in, it can be the ugly ones like his second goal tonight.

Notes –
– Kevin Fiala (1-0=1) registered his seventh goal for his 30th point of the season (7-23=30). Fiala joins Anze Kopitar (13-18=31) as the second Kings skater this season to hit the 30-point mark. It is the second consecutive season Fiala has recorded at least 30 points in the first 31 games to begin a season (9-23=32 in 2022-23).
– Fiala is only the second Kings skaters in the last decade to achieve such feat, joining Kopitar (3x, Last: 8-29=37 in 2020-21). Fiala’s goal also marks his eighth career goals against San Jose, breaking a tie with Nino Niederreiter for the most goals all-time among Swedish-born skaters against the Sharks.
– Pierre-Luc Dubois (1-0=1) scored his seventh goal of the season and his second in as many games.
– Trevor Lewis (1-0=1) collected his fifth goal of the season for his 171st point as a member of the Kings (75-96=171), breaking a tie with Mike Donnelly for sole-possession of the seventh-most points by a U.S.-born -player in club history.
– Adrian Kempe (2-0=2) scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, becoming the fourth Kings skater to reach the 10-goal mark. It was Kempe’s first multi-goal performance of the season and his team-leading ninth multi-point effort of the campaign.
– Kempe hit the 10-goal plateau for the seventh straight season. Only three Kings players have posted a longer run in the past 25 years: Anze Kopitar (18), Dustin Brown (16) and Jeff Carter (8).
Jordan Spence (0-1=1) tallied his 12th assist of the season for points in back-to-back games (0-1=1 on Dec. 23 vs. CGY). It is the third time this season Spence has recorded a point in back-to-back games, tying Drew Doughty for the most instances among Kings defenseman this campaign.
– Alex Laferriere (0-1=1) notched his third assist of the season. Laferriere has now appeared on the scoresheet in two straight contests against the Sharks (1-0=1 on Dec. 19 at SJS).
– Matt Roy (0-1=1) recorded his ninth assist of the season for the 71st of his career. It is Roy’s second assist in as many games and he breaks a tie with teammate Vladislav Gavrikov (70) for the eighth-most among blueliners from the 2015 NHL Draft.
– Drew Doughty (0-1=1) picked up his 11th assist of the season for his 31st career assist against San Jose, tying Scott Niedermayer for the third most assists all-time among blueliners against the Sharks.
– David Rittich turned aside 24 of 25 shots to earn his second win of the season and improving his record to 2-0-0.
– With tonight’s victory, the Kings improved their season record to 20-7-4. It marks the seventh time in franchise history the team has secured 20 wins within the first 31 games to start a season.

The Kings are not scheduled to hold a morning skate tomorrow and will return to action tomorrow evening against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena at 7 PM.

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