FINAL – Kings 4, Hurricanes 2 – Danault, Moore, Fiala, Hiller

The LA Kings ended their five-game trip with a victory, skating to a 4-2 win over Carolina on Saturday evening in Raleigh.

Just a minute after the Hurricanes had a goal waived off for a hand pass, Carolina opened the scoring through forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov defended a 2-on-1 rush well but the Hurricanes capitalized on the resulting offensive-zone possession. Kotkaniemi, stationed in front of the Kings net, got a deflection on a point shot from defenseman Sean Walker for the game’s first goal.

The Kings pushed back through forward Phillip Danault, who equalized late in the first period. After what was a favorable missed hooking call on Kings forward Warren Foegele, the puck deflected into the path of Danault, who ripped a shot home from the slot, past Carolina netminder Frederik Anderson and in for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-1 score after 20 minutes.

63 seconds into the second period, the Kings scored again with Danault once again involved in the offensivee. After defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov gained the offensive zone with possession, he worked the puck to Danault below the goal line. Danault then fed forward Trevor Moore in front of the net, where he slotted home his first goal since December 7 to put the visitors ahead 2-1.

The Kings added an insurance goal late in the second period, thanks to an individual effort from Kevin Fiala. Fiala started the play with relentless pursuit from his own zone out, eventually stripping the puck free in the offensive end. Fiala then exercised patience, as he skated all the way through the top of the crease, before he slotted home his 17th goal of the season for a 3-1 lead.

After Akil Thomas nearly made it a three-goal lead at one end, Carolina went the other way quickly and made it a 3-2 game. Thomas appeared to be taken down on a partial breakaway, without a call, before the Hurricanes quickly moved in transition, with forward Eric Robinson scoring on a wrist shot off the rush, beating Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper for the goal, his 12th of the season.

Fiala added another important response goal, this to restore the two-goal advantage, putting the Kings ahead 4-2. Skating through the slot, Fiala uncorked a wrist shot from a dangerous area that beat Carolina netminder Frederik Andersen clean for the goal, his second of the evening, with forward Quinton Byfield collecting his second assist of the game on the play.

Hear from Danault, Moore, Fiala and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s win.

Kevin Fiala
On the team finding a way to get the win tonight
It was desperation mode. From the beginning to the end, I think we wanted to win. They had a big start, they had so many chances at the start I felt like, but Darcy kept us in it. We just never gave up. Right now, we just have to believe in ourselves, believe in the team, which we did and we got a great win.

On seeing his teammates Phil Danault and Trevor Moore each bury one
Yeah, it was great to see them score. It was just emotional on the bench. They were happy, we were happy, we were so pumped and I think it got us a lot of energy. I think all of our goals, we were so pumped up and we got a boost for sure after every goal.

On getting himself back to top form after an illness in Florida
In Florida, the first game, I was sick and I was not feeling good at all for both of those games. Just drank a lot of water and with the day off yesterday, I feel way better.

Phillip Danault
On the team sticking with it and getting a big win to close out the trip
Big team win. Goalies, the defense, the offense, obviously feels really good. We had a tough stretch there and that was a definitely a big game for us……we weren’t playing bad, sometimes it’s just a matter of confidence and bounces. We stopped this stretch here because we kept our recipe, we kept working hard, playing our game and it worked out.

On getting two points tonight after not seeing the puck go in of late
Yeah, I just played my game tonight. Different linemates sometimes, they bring different energy and tonight was a good fit. We’ve played good the last two or three games, my line personally, and it just didn’t come. Tonight we stuck with it and it worked out for us.

On getting two points tonight after not seeing the puck go in of late
Yeah, he’s getting hot. In Florida the last two days he was sick, he wasn’t himself and then today, he recovered and he was himself. It’s good to see Kevin like that.

Trevor Moore
On seeing the first one hit the back of the net after his injury return
It’s been awhile. I got injured and then coming back, I haven’t found the net. Just feels good to see one go in.

On being a part of a four-goal night, after the recent offensive struggles
I’m proud of us. I think that, if you have a team with not a lot of character, they might stray from the game plan and stray from playing defense when the pucks not going in. We didn’t do that. We’ve been playing consistently, we haven’t had the goals and that’s on us, right, but we’ve played hard, played good defense, and I’m glad we got rewarded tonight.

On Phil Danault’s game tonight and of late
I thought Phil has been playing really good and I thought he was great tonight, especially the first two periods I thought he saw the ice so well. I love playing with Phil, so he’s a great example of [sticking with the process and getting rewarded].

Jim Hiller

Notes –
• Forward Kevin Fiala (2-0=2) scored his 17th and 18th goals of the year, clinching the eighth 30-point of the season of his career. The 28-year-old winger now has six points (3-3=6) over his last four meetings with the Hurricanes, dating back to his first visit to Raleigh as a King on Jan. 31, 2023.
• Since being acquired by the Kings on June 29, 2022, Fiala has now posted 50 multi-point performances for the club, the third most on the team in that span behind Anze Kopitar (53) and Adrian Kempe (52).
• Forward Trevor Moore (1-0=1) tallied his seventh goal of the campaign, extending his point- and goal-streak against the Hurricanes to a third consecutive game (4-0=4), dating back to Oct. 14, 2023.
• Forward Phillip Danault (1-1=2) tied the game in the opening stanza with his fifth goal of the season and recorded his 20th assist of the year on the go-ahead goal in the second period. The center now has five points (2-3=5) over his past two visits to Carolina, following a three-point night (1-2=3) on Jan. 15, 2024.
• With his performance tonight, Danault clinched his fourth 20-assist season as a member of the Kings. In doing so, the Victoriaville, Quebec, native breaks a four-way tie with Garry Galley (3x), Gilles Marotte (3x) and Real Lemieux (3x) for sole possession of the fifth most 20-assist seasons by a Quebec-born skater in franchise history.
• Danault also becomes the fourth Kings player in the past 20 years to record 20 or more assists in each of his first four seasons with the franchise, per NHL PR. He joins Anze Kopitar (19), Derek Armstrong (5) and Drew Doughty (4).
• Forward Quinton Byfield (0-2=2) recorded both his first and second career points against the Hurricanes with his 13th and 14th assists of the campaign. The 22-year-old now has 21 multi-point efforts in 229 career NHL games
• Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (0-1=1) picked up his 15th helper of the year on Moore’s go-ahead goal in the second period. Like Moore, Gavrikov also extends his point-streak against the Hurricanes to a third consecutive game (1-3=4), dating back to Oct. 14, 2023.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper turned aside 26 of the Hurricanes’ 28 shots on goal to improve his record to 14-6-6 on the campaign.

The Kings are set to travel back to Los Angeles