Adrian Kempe broke a tie with 5:48 to play and the Kings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
The winning goal was created by Alex Turcotte, who capitalized when Nick Perbix fell down while skating toward a pass from Brayden Point in the Lightning’s end. Turcotte outskated Perbix to the puck before dropping a pass to Kempe, who fired home his 19th goal.
Mikey Anderson scored in the first period and Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for the Kings, who shut out Tampa Bay over the final 58½ minutes. The Kings have won 12 of their last 16 games, nine consecutive at home and have earned a point in 14 of 16 games since late November.
Captain Victor Hedman scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots for Tampa Bay, which has lost three straight games for the first time in two months.
Hedman, who was bloodied by a puck to the head Thursday at San José, scored just 70 seconds after the opening faceoff at Crypto.com Arena. The star defenseman’s powerful shot ramped off Anderson’s stick and beat Kuemper for his fifth goal of the season.
Anderson answered several minutes later with a long shot through traffic for his career high-tying fifth goal.
Takeaways
Lightning: The NHL’s highest-scoring team is in a mini-slump with just four goals during their three-game skid.
Kings: They’ve earned a point in 14 of 16 games since late November. Kuemper was outstanding to lead a strong, physical defensive performance.
Key moment: The winning goal was created by Alex Turcotte, who capitalized when Nick Perbix fell down while skating toward a pass from Brayden Point in the Lightning’s end. Turcotte outskated Perbix to the puck before dropping a pass to Kempe, who fired home his 19th goal.
Key stat: Trevor Lewis returned from a 12-game injury absence and played in his 1,000th career NHL game. The 37-year-old forward won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012 and 2014, and he returned to the team last season after three years away.
Up next: The Lightning face the Ducks on Sunday night. The Kings get three days off before hosting the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night.