Kuemper makes 28 saves, Kings shut out Stars

DALLAS -- Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Dallas Stars 3-0 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
Defensemen Paul LaDue, Drew Doughty, and Alec Martinez scored, and Anze Kopitar had two assists for the Kings (27-18-5), who have won two in a row and three of four after a six-game losing streak.

"I think we're well aware of that tough skid we were on, and we put in a lot of work and film and practice and correcting things we've been doing wrong," said Kuemper, who earned his ninth NHL shutout. "I think the last couple games, you can see the commitment in the little puck battles and defensively their awareness of where their guys are."
\[WATCH: All Kings vs. Stars highlights\]
Kuemper has made 58 saves on 59 shots in back-to-back starts filling in for Jonathan Quick.
"I'm excited for the opportunity to play a couple in a row, especially exciting to get the start in this one with the dads here (for the fathers trip)," Kuemper said. "I wanted to take advantage of it, and the guys made it so easy in front of me."
Ben Bishop made 39 saves for the Stars (28-19-4), who have lost two games in a row, each at home.

"I think every single person in this room, in this building tonight knew tonight was not a very good hockey game from us," Bishop said. "You don't want to get on the wrong side of the snowball. You've got to fix it now. We realize it's two games in a row, and it's not acceptable, especially at home. These fans are paying good money to watch us play and that was pretty pathetic."
LaDue gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the first period after Kopitar set up the defenseman for his first NHL goal in his 24th game.
"It was unbelievable. I played a few games last year and didn't get it, but it felt even better to get the win and contribute to the win. And having my dad (Jay) here, it was even more special, so it was just great," LaDue said. "I kind of saw a spot open and just tried to shoot to that part of the net, and it ended up making it through a few sticks and into the net. I can't describe that feeling. It was great."

Stars center Tyler Seguin said he felt LaDue's goal set a negative tone for them for the rest of the game.
"I lost Kopitar on that first goal, and you can't give a guy like that [so] much space, plain and simple," Seguin said. "And that's how the game started off."
Los Angeles took a 2-0 lead at 5:09 of the second period when Doughty scored on the power play for his 100th NHL goal. His shot got under Bishop's right arm and trickled in as Kings forward Dustin Brown and Stars defenseman Stephen Johns battled for position in front of the Dallas goalie.
Martinez made it 3-0 at 1:05 of the third period when he scored on a sharp-angled shot from the boards.

"Third one, I just went back to the post and I couldn't see around [Jason Spezza], and Martinez did a good job of just throwing it on net," Bishop said. "I don't know how it went in."
Stars forward Alexander Radulov's point streak ended at nine games (six goals, 10 assists).

Goal of the game

Doughty's goal at 5:09 of the second period.

Save of the game

Kuemper stopping Radulov's shot 25 seconds into the third period.

Highlight of the game

LaDue's goal at 3:05 of the first period.

They said it

"I think you're playing teams like Dallas, they're a very good hockey team and they don't give up a lot and they can really get pressure on you with the forecheck. I thought they did that early, but I thought our guys did a really good job of just competing on the wall. That was everybody." -- Kings coach John Stevens
"I don't know what the reason is for it. There should be no reason or excuse. I mean, every team is the same after [the All-Star] break. They had the weekend off too, and I want to say we weren't prepared. The coaches did their jobs, we just didn't do ours." -- Stars center Tyler Seguin

Need to know

Jack Campbell
backed up Kuemper with Quick suspended for missing the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game on Sunday. … Stars defenseman Dan Hamhuis played his 1,000th NHL game.

What's next

Kings: At the Nashville Predators on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBSCN, NHL.TV)
Stars: At the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-SW, NHL.TV)