OTTAWA, Ontario — The Kings have had their troubles on home ice so far, but they’ve found a nice groove on the road.
Anze Kopitar scored midway through the second period to help the Kings build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, on Thursday night to improve to 5-0-0 away from home.
Carl Grundstrom and Philip Danault also scored and Adrian Kempe had two assists for the Kings, who improved to 6-2-2 overall. Cam Talbot, who spent last season in Ottawa, had 24 saves against his former team.
“That was a good game from our side tonight,” Kempe said. “Obviously they came back at the end and it was tighter than we wanted it to be. But I think we’ve had some games this year where it’s been a one-goal game at the end of the second period and I think we’ve been doing a really good job of that.
“Every line is managing the puck really well.”
Dominik Kubalik and Josh Norris had goals for Ottawa, and Joonas Korpisalo finished with 36 saves against his former team.
“The mistakes we made that went in the net are just mistakes,” said Senators coach D.J. Smith, who coached his 300th game. “That’s bad reads or not enough poise or what have you … for us to win games, you can use short-handed (play) as an excuse, but that ain’t going to fix anything. We’re gonna have to be airtight defensively.”
The Kings opened the scoring with a power-play goal three minutes in when Danault tallied from in close.
They doubled their lead at the 5-minute mark of the second period. Kempe picked up the puck at his own blue line, came down the wing and fed Grundstrom, who beat Korpisalo.
Kopitar was the beneficiary of Andreas Englund’s rebound for his fifth goal of the season at 8:55 of the middle period to make it 3-0.
“We have a pretty good idea of how we need to play,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Sometimes bounces don’t go your way, their second goal hits (Kopitar) in the face and a little bit of bad luck, but for the most part, I think we can play tight, uncomfortable games.”
The Senators got on the board with Kubalik’s power-play goal with 21 seconds left in the second.
Norris tipped Jacob Bernard-Docker’s shot at 4:09 of the third to pull Ottawa within one, but the Senators couldn’t get the equalizer.
“I don’t think the game was a bad game by any means,” said Ottawa defenseman Travis Hamonic, who played in his 800th NHL game. “But those are the close ones that you do need, especially at this time of year because they all matter and it matters at the end.”
Ottawa played much of the game down two players after Ridly Greig appeared to jam his right leg early in the first period, and Mark Kastelic lost an edge, went down hard to the ice early in the second and was unable to put any weight on his right leg.
Smith didn’t have an update after the game but said they look to be doubtful for the next few games.
“I think we would have liked to have been a little sharper in the second period and be a little bit more mature,” Norris said. “But we had a couple guys go down and guys had to step up and play some bigger minutes.”
UP NEXT
The Kings play at Philadelphia on Saturday night in the third game of a four-game trip.
Phillip Danault talks post game with @CarrlynBathe 🔉@LAKings I #LAKingsLive pic.twitter.com/LpxNcqZm3Q
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 3, 2023
Coach McLellan talks about the complete team effort for the win🎤 pic.twitter.com/pHdZaUB7Rq
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 3, 2023
Danault strikes first on the powerplay!!🚨🎯@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/ZptEnasDPp
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 2, 2023
What a finish by Grundstrom and it's 2-0‼🚨🚨@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/w1mvIXvsHN
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 3, 2023
Just taaaaap it in 🚨🚨🚨@LAKings I #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/zVP9mQmlWu
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) November 3, 2023
