It was a big night for milestones as the LA Kings (6-4-4) defeated Winnipeg Jets (9-4-0) by a final score of 3-0 on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena, earning their first home win of the 2025-26 regular season.
Goaltender Darcy Kuemper finished with 23 saves to earn his first shutout of the season, while Drew Doughty scored an empty-net goal in the final minute to become the team’s all-time goal scoring leader among defenders, Adrian Kempe scored the 200th goal of his career and Corey Perry added an assist in his 1,400th career NHL game.
The Kings got off to the start they were looking for defensively and did not allow a shot on goal from Winnipeg for the first eight minutes of the first period. What would’ve been the first shot for the Jets ended up in the net, but was quickly disallowed due to goaltender interference on former Kings forward Gabriel Vilardi. The call was held up after a coach’s challenge by the visitors.
With less than three minutes remaining in the opening period, one of the Kings new-look lines cashed in, with the help of Joel Armia, who made a strong play in the offensive zone. Armia controlled the puck behind the net and eventually found Kempe open in front of the net for the finish at 17:09.
The milestone goal also had an assist credited to Mikey Anderson, his first helper of the season.
Neither team was able to get on the board during the second and LA carried its one-goal lead into the final frame. Through 40 minutes, the Kings allowed only 13 shots on goal to the league’s top offensive team.
Kevin Fiala added insurance with five minutes left to play, capitalizing on a double-minor penalty to Winnipeg’s Vladislav Namestnikov who hit Perry with a high stick. Fiala wristed a shot past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on the power play for his sixth strike of the year and made it a 2-0 game. Assists on the play went to Perry, who had just re-joined the game after absorbing the penalty, as well as Quinton Byfield.
Doughty put the game away with 54 seconds left on the clock, scoring his 162nd career goal in unassisted fashion to pass Rob Blake and set a new franchise record.
Fiala’s tally was the lone man-advantage goal of the contest, with the Kings going 1-for-6 on the power play while holding Winnipeg to an 0-for-5 mark.
Postgame thoughts from Kempe and Doughty, as well as head coach Jim Hiller are below.
Hear from Kempe, Doughty and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight's win.
