Moore, Turcotte and Edmundson power Kings past Blackhawks to continue winning ways
Published
CHICAGO (AP) — Trevor Moore and Alex Turcotte scored in the first period, and the Los Angeles Kings held on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Thursday night for their sixth win in seven games.
Joel Edmundson fired from deep in the Kings’ zone and scored into an empty net with 19 seconds left to seal the win.
Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves in his fifth straight start to help Los Angeles tighten its grip on a playoff spot. Kuemper has allowed just four goals and has two shutouts in his five-game run.
Connor Bedard scored for the second straight game, netting his 19th goal, as the Blackhawks lost their season-high sixth straight (0-5-1). Chicago has been outscored 25-9 during its slide. Spencer Knight stopped 30 shots.
Los Angeles outshot Chicago 19-7 in a dominant first period and took a 2-0 lead on goals by Moore and Turcotte 59 seconds apart.
Moore fired a screened shot from the slot that clanked in off the left post 8:45 in. Turcotte made it 2-0 at 9:44, with a deflection of Vladislav Gavrikov’s shot.
Bedard cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal on a shot from the left circle at 10:50 of the second.
Takeaways
Kings: Continued their pursuit of second place Edmonton in the Pacific Division and home ice advantage in a possible first-round playoff matchup with the Oilers. Los Angeles and Edmonton have met three straight seasons in the postseason
Blackhawks: Following a pair of 6-2 losses, Chicago started skating in this one after a shaky start.
Key moment
Kuemper made a point-blank pad save on Lukas Reichel’s one-timer 2:45 into the third to keep the Kings ahead.
Key stat
Turcotte snapped a 24-game drought with his eighth goal. He hadn’t had a goal since scoring twice on Jan. 16 at Vancouver.
Up next
Both teams play Saturday. The Kings host Carolina and the Blackhawks are at St. Louis.