Kings center Blake Lizotte, center, celebrates with center Trevor Moore after scoring against the New York Rangers during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, right, defends against New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafrenière during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev watches a shot from the Kings’ Phillip Danault during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings center Adrian Kempe shoots as New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren defends during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Sean Durzi clears the puck from the New York Rangers’ Filip Chytil during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings center Trevor Moore (12) deflects a shot during the first period of their game against the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Rangers center Filip Chytil shoots as Kings center Blake Lizotte defends during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Mikey Anderson makes a pass as he is forechecked by the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin, left, and Alexis Lafreniere during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The New York Rangers’ Filip Chytil, right, is pushed by the Kings’ Brendan Lemieux along the boards during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings goaltender Cal Petersen deflects a shot by New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Mikey Anderson, right, attempts to pass the puck ahead to Anze Kopitar, left, as he is checked by Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev makes a save during the first period of their game against the Kings on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Kings defenseman Sean Durzi shoots as New York Rangers center Filip Chytil pursues him during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The New York Rangers’ Filip Chytil plays the puck with his glove as he is followed by the Kings’ Tobias Bjornfot during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings defenseman Matt Roy defends against New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin during the first period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Kings center Phillip Danault scores against New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Phillip Danault celebrates his goal against the New York Rangers during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings left wing Viktor Arvidsson, top, celebrates with center Phillip Danault after Danault scored during against the New York Rangers during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Phillip Danault, right, Kings celebrates his goal with Trevor Moore and Drew Doughty during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty breaks out in front of the New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad, right, Kaapo Kakko (24) and Adam Fox (23) during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev makes a save as the Kings’ Trevor Moore skates in looking for a rebound during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Kings’ Viktor Arvidsson, center, reacts as he tries for a rebound in front of the New York Rangers’ Patrik Nemeth (12) during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev makes a save on a shot from the Kings’ Phillip Danault, left, as the Rangers’ K’Andre Miller protects against a rebound during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev stops a shot by Kings center Phillip Danault during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Blake Lizotte, right, and the New York Rangers’ Patrik Nemeth follow the puck during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings center Blake Lizotte (46) scores against the New York Rangers during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Blake Lizotte, right, celebrates his goal with Trevor Moore during the second period of their game against the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev reacts after a goal from the Kings’ Blake Lizotte during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Kings’ Trevor Moore skates past the New York Rangers’ Jacob Trouba, center, and K’Andre Miller during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev makes a save on a shot by the Kings’ Trevor Moore during the second period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings left wing Brendan Lemieux, left, and center Rasmus Kupari, right, defend against New York Rangers center Greg McKegg during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Kings goaltender Cal Petersen makes a save in front of the New York Rangers’ Filip Chytil as the Kings’ Olli Maatta looks on during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers center Morgan Barron, left, defends against Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad scores against Kings goaltender Cal Petersen during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The New York Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad celebrates his goal in front of Kings goaltender Cal Petersen, right, and the Kings’ Brendan Lemieux during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) celebrates with defenseman Ryan Lindgren after scoring against the Kings to cut their deficit to 2-1 during the third period on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings’ Anze Kopitar is knocked off the puck by the New York Rangers’ Adam Fox during Monday night’s game at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
The Kings’ Drew Doughty, right, celebrates Adrian Kempe’s empty-net goal with Kempe, left, Alex Iafallo and Anze Kopitar during the third period of their 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and goaltender Cal Petersen celebrate after their 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was their fourth win in five games. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Kings goaltender Cal Petersen celebrates a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers with defenseman Drew Doughty on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty celebrates after their 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was their fourth win in five games. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Kings celebrate after their 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was their fourth win in five games. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
LOS ANGELES — The Kings extended their recent roll on Monday night, defeating the New York Rangers, 3-1, at Crypto.com Arena for their fourth win in five games.
Centers Phillip Danault and Blake Lizotte scored goals for the Kings. Adrian Kempe sealed the deal with an empty-net goal and forward Trevor Moore contributed two assists. Cal Petersen made consecutive starts for the first time this season, making 22 saves for his second straight win.
Center Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers. Leading scorer Artemi Panarin played for the first time since Dec. 31 after exiting the COVID protocols, but he was held scoreless. Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves.
The Kings were 2 for 2 on the penalty kill, carrying over some solid man-down defensive play from their victory over Detroit on Saturday. They’ve allowed just one goal total over their last two games.
During this seven-game homestand, which concludes Thursday against Pittsburgh, the Kings have snapped Vancouver’s seven-game winning streak, Philadelphia’s seven-game points streak and beat a Rangers team that had won four of its last five to reach a points tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division. They also shut out a resurgent Detroit team.
“We’ve beaten some pretty good teams who were playing good hockey, so it’s huge confidence for our group. If you want to make the playoffs, you have to beat all the teams and the best teams are included in that,” Lizotte said. “I think that’s a really good positive thing going forward for our group confidence-wise, knowing that we can play with anybody in this league.”
With 77 seconds remaining, Kempe sent a puck from the Kings’ zone all the way into the vacated cage at the opposite end of the ice for his team-leading 16th goal.
The Rangers had livened up the game when they cut their deficit to 2-1 with 8:33 left in the third period. Chytil made a whirling pass from the right-wing wall to the net front, where Zibanejad redirected the puck in for his 13th goal of the season. The goal interrupted a streak of 118:39 of shutout hockey that the Kings had played with Petersen in net.
“They’re dangerous, they’re skilled. But we did check well and manage the puck fairly well, too,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “They can capitalize on transition plays quite quickly, and we didn’t give them very many of those.”
The Kings led 2-0 and 31-15 in shots through 40 minutes. They also carried an advantage in hits, with arguably the biggest one being a crunching check by defenseman Drew Doughty on Chytil in the neutral zone.
At the 2:41 mark of the second period, the Kings extended their advantage off the rush. Like their first goal, it was a backhand shot by Moore generating a rebound for a backhand goal, this time by Lizotte.
Just 55 seconds into the second period, the Kings owned the game’s first lead. Moore picked the pocket of defenseman K’Andre Miller, splitting Miller and his partner Jacob Trouba to zoom ahead for a backhand shot. As the two defenders searched for the rebound, Danault arrived on the scene and backhanded the puck past Georgiev. Danault now has three goals and five points in his last four games.
Moore had been plagued by flukes and bounces that limited his production early in the year, but he has notched eight points in his last six games after scoring six in his first 30.
“The coaching staff had some responsibility for his lack of production because we played him everywhere. He was a center, he was a left wing, he was a right wing, he was on the top line, he was on the fourth line” McLellan said. “He’s found a home now on that Danault line.”
The Kings continued to out-possess and out-shoot their opponents, but the first period remained scoreless. Among the stronger chances for either side were two for Kempe while shorthanded. Kempe scored shorthanded in the Kings’ win over Detroit on Saturday, and three of the Kings’ four short-handed goals this season had been scored in their previous six games.
The two sides traded scoring chances to start the game, and for the second straight game the first shot Petersen faced was a dangerous one. Against Detroit, he thwarted an early breakaway. On Monday, he lunged forward to make a sprawling save on winger Ryan Strome, who one-timed a shot in tight off an odd-man attack.
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“Thirty seconds into the game he had to make a huge save that could change the night,” McLellan said.
“Just like (Jonathan Quick) wasn’t going to hand the keys to the kingdom over to Cal, Cal’s going to fight to get them back,” McLellan continued. “There’s no better situation than that. They’ll push each other and in today’s game you have to have two goaltenders.”
On the roster news front, winger Alex Iafallo and forward Alex Turcotte exited protocols. Forward Lias Andersson was placed on injured reserve and winger Martin Frk was added to the non-roster/COVID-19 list.
For all the Kings’ early inconsistency and stream of setbacks due to player absences, they have been playing arguably their best hockey of the season of late.
“You’re either in repair mode or you’re in advance mode, and when you’re winning, you’re advancing,” McLellan said.
