Drew Doughty and Viktor Arvidsson scored in Los Angeles’ four-goal first period, Adrian Kempe had two goals and an assist, and the Kings clinched a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with an 8-2 victory over the calgary flames on Monday night.
Carl Grundstrom scored twice and Gabriel Vilardi and Mikey Anderson also scored for the Kings, who tied Vegas for the top of the division by extending their scoring streak to 10 games (8-0-2) with their second eight-goal streak it’s from the season. .
Pheonix Copley made 15 saves for Los Angeles, while captain Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield and Rasmus Kupari each had two assists. The Kings earned a point in each game in March, putting themselves in contention for the second division title for a franchise with two Stanley Cup championships.
Tyler Toffoli scored against his former team for the Flames, who couldn’t catch him after allowing four goals in a first period for the first time since November 2017. Coach Darryl Sutter’s teams hadn’t allowed four goals in a first period since October 2014 . , when he was still behind the Kings’ bench.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots and allowed six goals in the first two quarters of his 10th straight start before Dan Vladar cleaned up in the third for the Flames. Markstrom also allowed six goals in Calgary’s overtime loss to Dallas two days earlier to start the team’s worst two-game defensive skid of the season.
Noah Hanifin also scored for the Flames, who have lost four of six to hurt their playoff hopes.
The Kings were prolific offensively even with top scorer Kevin Fiala missing his fifth straight game with a lower body injury.
Grundstrom put Los Angeles ahead early when he skated around Markstrom and scored a goal in his third straight game. Doughty then scored his third goal in four games with a long shot through traffic, and Vilardi scored 57 seconds later.
Arvidsson added a power play goal off a cross from Kempe to clinch the fifth 20-goal season of his career, including his two years with Los Angeles.
Toffoli scored his 29th goal from the slot on a power play 34 seconds into the second period, increasing his point total to a career-high 62. The goal was Toffoli’s third in seven career games against the Kings, who drafted him in 2010 and won a Stanley Cup with him in 2014 before trading him in 2020.
But Kempe got his 33rd goal on a breakaway set up by Alexander Edler’s exceptional long pass midway through the second, scoring again 4½ minutes later. Anderson scored the first power play goal of his career in the third.
Milan Lucic was a healthy scratch for the second game in a row. The veteran Calgary forward who played one season for the Kings has scored just one goal in his last 27 games dating back to January 10.
