darcy kuemper

Kings lose in overtime to the Boston Bruins

Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime and Jeremy Swayman stopped 14 shots on Tuesday night to earn the Boston Bruins their 13th straight victory at home, 2-1 over the Kings.

Mason Lohrei scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. But the Kings tied it five minutes later when Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line deflected off the heel of Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and into the net.

It was the seventh straight time the teams had gone to overtime in Boston.

In the overtime, Mark Kastelic blocked a shot in the defensive zone and made a long pass to David Pastrnak, who waited for McAvoy to come into the zone. The Bruins’ defenseman and U.S. Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.

Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who entered the night one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The victory kept Boston in possession of the East’s second wild-card spot.

Swayman tied his career high with his 25th win of the season. The Bruins haven’t lost at the TD Garden since before Christmas.

After the game, Kings forward and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar stayed on the ice to shake hands with the Bruins after what is expected to be his last game in Boston.

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Kings can’t hold on to third-period lead in loss to Canadiens

Juraj Slafkovsky scored his second goal 49 seconds before he set up captain Nick Suzuki for the tiebreaker with 4:33 to play, leading the Montreal Canadiens’ rally for a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.

Jake Evans also scored and Jakub Dobes made 35 saves for the Canadiens, who salvaged the final stop of their three-game California trip with a late surge led by their offensive stars.

Shortly after Slafkovsky tied it on Montreal’s only power play, Cole Caufield forced a turnover that went from Slafkovsky to Suzuki for a one-timer that slipped underneath Darcy Kuemper’s arm.

Montreal had its NHL-leading 20th comeback victory one night after making a late rally — and then blowing a lead — in a wild 6-5 shootout loss to the Ducks.

Alex Laferriere scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for the Kings, who have lost seven of nine — including two of three under interim head coach D.J. Smith.

Scott Laughton scored in his debut for the Kings, who acquired the center in a trade with Toronto on Friday. Kuemper stopped 19 shots.

Captain Anze Kopitar opened the scoring with his seventh goal late in the first period. The Kings’ 38-year-old captain, who is retiring this spring after 20 seasons with the Kings, ended his 21-game goal drought since Dec. 8.

Slafkovsky put Montreal ahead late in the second when he skated in off the boards. The 21-year-old Slovak’s first goal since January was also his 50th point, making him the first Canadiens player to record three 50-point seasons before turning 22.

The Kings didn’t take a penalty until Trevor Moore went off for slashing with 5:53 to play, but Slafkovsky tied it moments later.

Phillip Danault got a lukewarm reception during his first game in Los Angeles since the Kings traded him back to Montreal in December. Danault had four solid seasons for the Kings, but then played 30 goalless games this fall and reportedly requested an exit.

Up next for the Kings: at Columbus on Monday to open a five-game trip.

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Kings blown out by Oilers as losing streak grows to five games

Connor McDavid secured his ninth 100-point season with a goal and an assist, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists, and the Edmonton Oilers snapped their four-game skid with an 8-1 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.

McDavid scored his 35th goal and Draisaitl got his 30th during his fourth four-point game of the season as the Oilers again routed the opponent they’ve knocked out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the past four seasons.

The game marked the biggest margin of defeat against the Kings this season.

Jake Walman scored two goals, Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists, and Ty Emberson, Vasily Podkolzin and Andrew Mangiapane also scored in Edmonton’s impressive rebound from a painful loss against the Ducks. Connor Ingram made 22 saves for the Oilers (29-23-8), who have returned from the Olympic break with 13 goals in two games.

Warren Foegele scored for the Kings (23-21-14), who have lost five straight games since January. The Kings’ humiliating third-period collapse against Vegas one night earlier bled into this game: When Hyman scored on a power play midway through the second period, the Kings had surrendered 10 goals in their past 41 minutes of play.

Darcy Kuemper gave up four goals on 15 shots before getting pulled early in the second period for Anton Forsberg.

Some Kings fans targeted coach Jim Hiller for the struggles, repeatedly chanting “Fire Hiller!” in the third period.

Emberson opened the scoring with his first goal since Oct. 28. Podkolzin scored 54 seconds later on another shot that could have been stopped by Kuemper.

Mangiapane beat Kuemper cleanly on an odd-man rush early in the second, and McDavid made it 4-1 when Kuemper comically fell down six feet outside his crease to leave an open net for the NHL’s top scorer.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Calgary at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

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