Kings score early but can’t hold on in loss to Blackhawks
CHICAGO — Wyatt Kaiser snapped a third-period tie, Spencer Knight made 25 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Samuel Helenius scored for the Kings in the finale of a 3-2-0 trip. The Kings’ Anton Forsberg stopped 25 shots.
Chicago stopped a three-game slide while improving to 3-4-0 on a seven-game homestand. Roman Kantserov scored in the second, and the Blackhawks killed off a double-minor penalty on defenseman Sam Rinzel for high-sticking.
Kaiser picked up his first goal of the season at 7:17, beating Forsberg through the goaltender’s legs with a well-placed shot from the left circle. It was the 11th goal for the defenseman in 187 career games.
Kings captain Drew Doughty and forward Corey Perry were scratched after they played in Monday night’s 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers.
The Blackhawks played without defenseman Bowen Byram, who missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
The Kings got off to a fast start. Jared Wright’s shot trickled past Knight, and Helenius poked it home at 2:31 for his first goal of the season.
The Kings carried their 1-0 lead deep into the second period. But Joel Armia was whistled for tripping at 14:26 and interference at 16:29, and Connor Bedard set up Kantserov for the rookie’s team-high fifth goal at 16:40.
The Blackhawks improved to four for 38 (10.5%) on the power play in 12 games. They converted 16.9% of their chances last season, ranking 29th in the NHL.