Kings hold off Coyotes to gain split of NHL Global Series -- Melbourne

Adrian Kempe scored two goals for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,188 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday.

The preseason game was the second NHL contest played in the Southern Hemisphere following the Coyotes’ 5-3 win against the Kings here Saturday.

Jacob Moverare also scored for Los Angeles. Cam Talbot made 20 saves in the first two periods, and David Rittich stopped seven of eight shots in the third period. Each goalie made his Kings debut.

Barrett Hayton and Travis Dermott scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 31 saves for Arizona.

Hayton scored on the power play at 11:18 of the first period to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. He took a pass from Clayton Keller at the right of the net, stepped out front and snapped a shot over Talbot.

Kempe tied it 1-1 on a 4-on-3 power play at 1:51 of the third period. He one-timed a cross-ice pass from Kevin Fiala from the right face-off-circle. Australian native Jordan Spence also assisted on the goal.

Moverare scored to give Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 7:33, on a shot through traffic from the blue line.

Kempe scored into an empty net with Vejmelka pulled for an extra attacker at 19:20 to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. Dermott scored with 17 seconds left in the third period for the 3-2 final. 

Captain Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty were among those who were scratched Sunday for the Kings.