- The Canadian Press
Kings beat Ducks 4-1 as fans return to Staples Center
LOS ANGELES — Andreas Athanasiou and Blake Lizotte each had a goal and two assists and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night. Anze Kopitar and Carl Grundstrom also scored for the Kings, who had gone 14 games since their last win by at least three goals, against St. Louis on March 17. Cal Petersen made 24 saves. Cam Fowler scored, Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves and the Ducks lost their third straight. The teams played in front of about 2,000 fans, who were allowed into the Staples Center for the first time in more than a year due to the pandemic. The Kings took the lead 5:26 into the first. Grundstrom was hit in the back by Athanasiou’s shot from the point, which sent the puck tumbling in past a bewildered Stolarz for his sixth goal. Kopitar made it 2-0 at 8:31 of the second with his 10th goal. Drew Doughty’s stretch pass set up the breakaway by Kopitar, who has reached double digits in scoring in each of his 14 seasons in the NHL. Athanasiou buried a one-timer from the right circle to push the lead to 3-0 at 10:48. It was the third multi-point game for Athanasiou this season. Lizotte made it 4-0 at 10:50 of the third, putting Athanasiou’s rebound into an open net. Playing in his 103 career game, it was Lizotte’s first three-point game and first with multiple assists. Fowler got the 4-1 final with his fourth goal at 14:36. BACK AT IT The Kings had reinforcements on defence with Matt Roy back after missing seven games because of COVID-19, and Tobias Bjornfot returning from an upper-body injury. With their second pair back, the Kings ended a run of 12 games allowing multiple goals. WELCOME BACK The Kings had fans at Staples Center for the first time since March 11, 2020, with nearly 2,000 in attendance after showing proof of vaccination or a negative test as a condition of entry. San Jose is set to follow suit starting next Monday, which will leave Chicago as the only NHL team in the United States that has yet to play in front of fans on home ice this season. UP NEXT Ducks: Host Vegas on Saturday. Kings: Host Minnesota on Friday. ___ More AP NHL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press
- The Canadian Press
Los Angeles hosts Anaheim after Moore's 2-goal game
Anaheim Ducks (14-25-7, eighth in the West Division) vs. Los Angeles Kings (16-20-6, seventh in the West Division) Los Angeles; Tuesday, 10 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Kings -137, Ducks +113; over/under is 0 BOTTOM LINE: Los Angeles hosts the Anaheim Ducks after Trevor Moore scored two goals in the Kings' 6-2 loss to the Golden Knights. The Kings are 16-20-6 against West Division opponents. Los Angeles has given up 19 power-play goals, killing 84.4% of opponent opportunities. The Ducks are 14-25-7 in division matchups. Anaheim averages 9.4 penalty minutes per game, the seventh-most in the league. Nicolas Deslauriers leads the team serving 47 total minutes. In their last meeting on March 10, Los Angeles won 5-1. Adrian Kempe scored a team-high two goals for the Kings in the victory. TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Roy leads the Kings with a plus-three in 30 games this season. Anze Kopitar has 6 points over the last 10 games for Los Angeles. Maxime Comtois leads the Ducks with 27 points, scoring 13 goals and adding 14 assists. Derek Grant has 6 points over the last 10 games for Anaheim. LAST 10 GAMES: Kings: 3-7-0, averaging 2.3 goals, 3.5 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.9 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game with an .891 save percentage. Ducks: 3-6-1, averaging 2.2 goals, four assists, 5.1 penalties and 14.2 penalty minutes while allowing 2.7 goals per game with a .927 save percentage. INJURIES: Kings: Tobias Bjornfot: day to day (upper body). Ducks: None listed. ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar. The Associated Press
