The LA Kings had a breakout game offensively, as they skated to a 6-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
Neither team found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes for the second straight game between these two sides. Kings forward Quinton Byfield came the closest to opening the scoring, as he hit the post from the slot late in the period.
Early in the second period, however, the Kings started the scoring through forward Warren Foegele. Foegele and forward Trevor Moore combined to get the hosts on the board for the second straight game, with Moore returning the favor from Foegele’s assist on Thursday. Moore won the puck along the boards and fed Foegele in the high slot, where he one-timed the puck past Chicago goaltender Spencer Knight and in for a 1-0 lead.
The Kings doubled their lead late as the power play got off the schneid with a big goal. After he took a feed from forward Kevin Fiala, forward Andrei Kuzmenko made a nice move to the net from below the goal line, pulling the puck onto his forehand into the middle of the ice. Although his shot was initially stopped by Knight, momentum carried it over the line for his fourth of the season, putting the hosts ahead 2-0.
Los Angeles capped off a strong period with a late goal to take a three-goal lead into the second intermission. Working in from the point, defenseman Brandt Clarke moved his way into the slot with the puck. With forward Corey Perry providing an excellent screen in front of Knight, Clarke picked his spot, high glove side, for his fourth goal of the season, as the Kings opened up a 3-0 advantage.
Clarke made it two goals on the evening inside the first five minutes of the third period, as he activated to join the rush and cashed in with a pinpoint shot at the back post. Clarke worked his way down the left wing, took a feed from forward Adrian Kempe and buried his shot, back-bar and out, on the blocker side for the first multi-goal game of his NHL career and a 4-0 lead for the Kings.
With the teams skating 4-on-4 just over 90 seconds after Clarke’s tally, defenseman Mikey Anderson got in on the action with a nice goal of his own. Anderson took a pass through the slot from forward Phillip Danault and worked his way into the left-hand circle. With time, he fired high glove side, past Knight and in for his second goal of the season and the third goal this game by a Kings defenseman, putting the hosts ahead 5-0.
Forward Alex Turcotte made it 6-0 with a terrific individual effort down the left wing. Turcotte showed his speed and strength to get around his defenseman and shield him off, driving to the net aggressively. Turcotte’s shot was stopped but the rebound kicked back off his shin and in for his second goal of the season and a six-goal lead for the hosts.
Hear from Clarke, Turcotte and Head Coach Jim Hiller after tonight’s victory.
