Coyotes defeat Kings, gain in Western wild card

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes moved within one point of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Christian Dvorak scored his first two goals of the season, Michael Grabner scored twice and Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for the Coyotes (34-29-5), who moved within one point of the Minnesota Wild with their eighth win in nine games.
"We can't rest. We can't pat ourselves on the back. Hey, we've given ourselves a chance now to get back in this race and we actually control our own destiny," coach Rick Tocchet said after the Coyotes completed a 6-1-0 homestand. "But we can't rest. We've got to reset ourselves, get a good practice and go to Chicago (on Monday)."
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Coyotes highlights]
Carl Grundstrom
scored in his NHL debut, and Jack Campbell made 28 saves for the Kings (24-36-8), who have lost three in a row and 13 of 14 (1-9-4).
Grundstrom kicked the rebound of a Derek Forbort shot onto his stick in the slot and scored at 3:44 of the third period to tie it 2-2. He is the 19th player in Kings history to score in his first NHL game, and the first since Tanner Pearson on Nov. 14, 2013.
"Unbelievable, of course. A real good feeling," said Grundstrom, who said he's been dreaming of scoring in the NHL "since I was 5."

Dvorak put Arizona back in the lead at 10:28, putting in the rebound of Alex Goligoski's shot that deflected off two Kings players to make it 3-2.
"Once we tied it up we started to push a little more, take over the game, play our game," Grabner said. "I think we let them hang around, played a little tentative at times."
Dvorak played in his sixth game of the season after being out 62 games with an upper-body injury. Grabner played in his second after being out since Dec. 1 with an eye injury.
"Getting them back, especially after the injuries they had, it's been awesome," Goligoski said. "It was fun to watch them tonight."

Grabner made it 4-2 at 15:34 for the Coyotes, who haven't reached the playoffs since 2011-12.
Dvorak gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 7:23 of the first.
"I've got to be ready to go and help the team win," Dvorak said. "It's a work in progress but I feel like I'm improving every game."
Grabner made it 2-0 at 9:30 with his fifth shorthanded goal of the season, two behind Dave McIlwain's franchise-record seven in 1989-90. It was Arizona's 14th, the second most in the NHL and one off the franchise record of 15 in 1988-89, when the team played in Winnipeg.
"I've been out over 40 games and it's been a lot of fun [returning]," Grabner said. "It's a playoff atmosphere out there and we've got to win every game, that's how we look at it."

Adrian Kempe cut it to 2-1 at 14:49, kicking the puck to his stick along the boards and driving to the net to score inside the near post.
"We had our chances, it was a tight game, but they ended up getting two goals late," Kempe said. "We've got to regroup and go on."
The Coyotes gained 12 of a possible 14 points on the homestand, their most successful since they relocated to Arizona in 1996.
"It was a huge homestand for us, we had to treat every game like a playoff game," Dvorak said. "But can't get too high, we've got take this on the road now."

They said it

"It was awesome, there's not many who scored in their first game. He's a good goal scorer and I'm happy for him. … He has a lot of skill, plays very hard and you could see that tonight." -- Kings forward Adrian Kempe on Carl Grundstrom scoring in his NHL debut
"There's 14 games left, and that's a ton of games. You can't rest for one minute. You've got to bounce back after a bad period, bounce back after a bad loss and stay humble after a win. Those are things good teams do, and we have those traits lately." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet, whose team is 11-3-0 in its past 14 games

Need to know

Kuemper is 9-1-0 with two shutouts in his past 10 games, and 17-4-3 since Jan. 1. … Kings defenseman Drew Doughty had two assists and has five assists in his past five games. … The Coyotes haven't been this close to a playoff position so late in a season since 2013-14. … Arizona allowed two goals or fewer for the 10th time in 14 games.

What's next

Kings: At the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-A, NHL.TV)