Kings shut out last-place Canucks for much-needed win
VANCOUVER, Canada — Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead the Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield also scored. Mikey Anderson had a pair of assists.
The victory moved the Kings within one point of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
One of the best stops by Kuemper, whose last shutout was on Dec. 6 against Chicago, came at the 10:43 mark of the first period when Teddy Blueger launched a blast from the slot and the goalie kicked out his right leg to send the puck soaring with the toe of his skate.
Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game. Vancouver has been shut out five times this season, with four coming at home.
The Kings opened the scoring with Laughton’s power-play goal 17:34 into the first period. Stationed at the top of the faceoff circle, Byfield took a shot that hit the skate of Laughton as he jumped in front of the net, deflecting the puck in past Lankinen.
Byfield sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:24 left in the game.
Up next for Kings: vs. Utah at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.