SEATTLE — The Kings built a four-goal lead then nearly squandered it all while tying a franchise record in their penultimate game of the regular season.
Samuel Helenius scored twice, David Rittich made 29 saves, and the Kings spoiled the Seattle Kraken’s home finale with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday night, winning their fourth straight and tying the franchise record for single-season wins (48) set in 2015-16.
The Kings (48-24-9, 105 points) are already locked into a best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, and they secured home-ice advantage with a 5-0 win in Edmonton on Monday night. One night later, the Kings blew a 2-0 first-period cushion but responded with four unanswered goals over a five-plus minute stretch of game time between the second and third periods and survived Seattle’s comeback bid.
“I like the win,” Kings coach Jim Hiller told NHL.com. “This was a hard back-to-back. We had some key players out of the lineup, it didn’t mean anything for us in the standings, as far as movement, and we won the hockey game. That’s what I like about the win.”
Warren Foegele gave the lead back to the Kings with 3:55 left in the second and Alex Laferriere made it 4-2 just 72 seconds later. Adrian Kempe and Helenius added third-period goals to make it 6-2.
Seattle nearly came all the way back with three straight goals from Jaden Schwartz, Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen, but the deficit proved too much.
Alex Turcotte and Adrian Kempe had a goal and an assist apiece for the Kings, and Kevin Fiala and Vladislav Gavrikov had two assists apiece.
The Kings dominated five-on-five play on Tuesday, and they didn’t need a lot of shots on goal to end up with their 17th road win of the season. The Kings had just 14 total shots on target in the first 40 minutes.
The Kings broke a 2-2 tie at 16:05 of the second period. Foegele took a pass from Phillip Danault to the left side of the net and muscled a backhander inside the far post.
The Kings made it 4-2 at 17:17, as Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord made a sprawling save on a shot by Fiala before Laferriere pounced on the rebound and chipped the puck over the prone goalie from the top of the crease.
Laferriere’s goal came just seconds after Seattle’s Mikey Eyssimont hit the left post with a lacrosse-style shot from behind the net.
Kempe scored on a wrist shot at 1:41 of the third, and Helenius capped the run of four consecutive goals at 2:38 to make it 6-2. Helenius came into Tuesday’s game with two goals all season, but he equaled that total in 13:49 minutes of ice time against the Kraken.
“It feels good,” Helenius told NHL.com after his first two-goal game in the NHL. “I’m not maybe known about goals, so it’s nice to get two in the same night. So, I’m happy for that.”
Turcotte was hoping for more for his teammate.
“That was awesome,” Turcotte told NHL.com of Helenius. “I was hoping he was going to get the hat trick, obviously.”
Schwartz scored his team-leading 26th goal for the Kraken at 5:12 and Beniers converted on a power play at 13:34. Tolvanen brought the deficit down to one at 19:30, but Seattle couldn’t equalize.
The Kings were outshot 11-5 in the first period but took a 2-0 lead.
Helenius opened the scoring at 15:14, redirecting a shot-pass by Gavrikov over Daccord’s left shoulder. Turcotte made in 2-0 on a power-play goal at 16:23, deflecting Kempe’s shot through the seam and into an open net behind Daccord.
“I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity (playing on an elevated line),” Turcotte told NHL.com. “I was definitely a little nervous before the game, more so than others this year, I would say. But I think it got me in the right mindset to play my game and do my best out there.”
The Kraken tied it at 2-2 in the second period. Tye Kartye scored on a short-handed breakaway down the right wing at 5:26, and Brandon Montour tied it on a blast from the blue line with a man advantage at 13:24, his 18th goal of the season extending his career-high.
Daccord had 18 saves for Seattle, which finished with less than 20 home wins for the second straight season and a negative goal differential of at least 15. Seattle (35-41-6, 81 points) will finish as the fourth-worst team in the Western Conference.
The Kings close the regular season at home against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
OILERS’ NURSE SUSPENDED 1 GAME FOR HIT ON BYFIELD
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse has been suspended for his team’s final game of the regular season, but is eligible to return for the playoffs, after cross-checking Kings forward Quinton Byfield in the back of the head on Monday night.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced the suspension Tuesday following a disciplinary hearing with Nurse, who avoided missing the series opener in the fourth consecutive first-round series between the Oilers and Kings. He’ll forfeit $48,177 in salary.
Byfield left the game Monday night with what the Kings called an upper-body injury and did not return. Coach Jim Hiller had no update on the 22-year-old’s condition following a 5-0 victory at Edmonton. Byfield also did not play Tuesday night at Seattle.
In a post-whistle scrum late in the second period, Nurse put Byfield in a head lock, took him down and whacked him with his stick in the back of the helmet. Officials gave Nurse a major penalty, upholding that and ejecting him after video review.
This is Nurse’s third career suspension for an on-ice incident and fourth overall. He got three games in 2016 for being the aggressor in a fight and one in 2022 for headbutting Kings center Phillip Danault during the first round, as well as one in 2023 for instigating a fight in the final five minutes during a second-round series against Vegas.
Originally Published:
