Daccord makes 35 saves, Kraken edge Kings for 3rd straight win

LOS ANGELES -- Joey Daccord made 35 saves, and the Seattle Kraken won their third straight game with a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday.

“Three big wins to go into the break, breaking the back-to-back (losing) streak, we’re feeling pretty good right now,” Daccord said.

Jordan Eberle, Frederick Gaudreau and Ben Meyers scored for the Kraken (15-14-6), who are 5-3-1 in their past nine road games, including a 3-1 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

“And when it’s a collective effort like that, that’s how we win,” Daccord said. “We’re a team that needs everyone going every night, from the net out. And I think these last three games, you saw that, and we executed. And it’s fun to see the guys get rewarded.”

Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko scored for the Kings (15-12-9), who are 1-4-2 in their past seven games. Pheonix Copley made 25 saves in his first NHL start since Dec. 10, 2023.

Seattle went up 1-0 on a power play 1:10 into the second period on Eberle’s 13th goal of the season. He got the puck alone just outside the crease and beat Copley with a wrist shot over his left shoulder.

It was the Kraken’s fifth power-play goal in the past six games. They are 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) with the man-advantage in that span.

Los Angeles has given up a power-play goal in four straight games. The Kings are 21st in the NHL on the penalty kill (78.0 percent).

“There’s always discussion, and you’re always thinking about what can we do differently?” Kings head coach Jim Hiller said. “Or sometimes it’s not even different, it’s just better. And so we have to make sure, we have to understand, is it different, or is it just doing it better?”

Gaudreau made it 2-0 at 7:26 when Kings defenseman Brian Dumoulin broke up his shot, sending the puck fluttering towards net, but Copley couldn’t catch it and it went off his glove and in through the five-hole.

“Like (head coach) Lane (Lambert) says, it’s a low-event match (against the Kings),” Seattle center Matty Beniers said. “And you know every play, every battle, every mistake matters against a team like that. … It’s kind of like playoff hockey when we play against them.”

Meyers gave the Kraken a 3-0 lead at 16:02 when his centering pass for Gaudreau on a 2-on-1 break deflected off the stick of Los Angeles defenseman Mikey Anderson and went in at the far right post.

Fiala cut it to 3-1 at 16:13 on a backhand from close range after Anze Kopitar pressured Josh Mahura under the Seattle goal line, leading to a turnover in the offensive zone.

Kuzmenko made it 3-2 at 8:45 of the third period, racing past defenseman Ryker Evans for a wraparound at the left post. The Kings shuffled their forwards for the game, including playing Kuzmenko and Fiala together on the third line with center Alex Turcotte.

“‘Koozie,’ I thought was maybe his best as he’s been all year, I think, from start to finish,” Hiller said. “I know he scored the goal, but you saw him handle the puck under the goal line, control it. That was a really positive force.”

Fiala nearly tied it with 16.1 seconds remaining, hitting the crossbar, but the Kings were held to two goals or fewer for the seventh straight game.

“There’s a lot of things to like offensively about the game,” Hiller said. “But in the end, we don’t win the game, so that’s the feeling we take with us.”

NOTES: Beniers got his 100th NHL assist in 284 career games. He is the second player from the 2021 NHL Draft to reach the milestone, joining Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston. … Kings defenseman Drew Doughty got his 10th assist of the season, reaching the mark in each of his 18 NHL seasons. He is the 23rd defenseman in League history with at least 10 assists in 18 seasons. … Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen had two assists to extend his assist streak to five games. He has seven points (one goal, six assists) in that span. … Kraken forward Berkly Catton returned after missing eight games because of an upper-body injury. Catton had two shots in 12:28 of ice time.