Andrei Kuzmenko again provides Spark in Kings’ victory over the Jets – Orange County Register

Los Angeles – The Kings have once again covered on the scale and said they belonged to the ring with any heavy goods vehicle.

They finished a scan of the team season with the best NHL record, the Winnipeg Jets, by 4-1 victory Tuesday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

The jets had won nine of the 12 games entering the shock and last month, has reconstructed the longest sequence of the Ligue victories this season – 11 consecutive. They also have the most victories on the NHL road, in addition to several other regular season superlatives, including a defense of the league in mind by the favorite of the Vezina trophy, Connor Hellebuyck in the net.

However, the Kings defeated them convincingly at home twice now and were 3-0-0 thanks to a victory over time at the Gutsy in Winnipeg between these triumphs. They are now 12-1-0 against the playoff teams (the first three of their division) at home this season, but 3-10-0 on the road. They are also 11-3-1 in total in 15 games since the acquisition of Andrei Kuzmenko on the deadline for trade.

Kuzmenko catalyzed the effort of the Kings with a goal and a decisive pass after Trevor Moore opened the scoring and before Adrian Kempe was nailed to an empty net, on which Kopitar added a assist. Kuzmenko collected nine points in his last seven games after obtaining a goal and two assists in an 8-1 x-ray of San Jose on Sunday. Due to two trades, Kuzmenko ended up facing the jets six times this season, his teams winning four of these games.

Darcy Kuemper made 18 stops for the Kings (42-23-9, 93 points), which were two points ahead of Edmonton (43-26-5) for second place in the Pacific division with eight games to do in the regular season.

Cole Perfetti scored the only goal of the jets. Hellebuyck stopped 16 of the 19 shots in Belly his reputation.

The third period saw the Kings locking their two points, although he had to kill their first two penalties in the match, both of the minors, in Vladislav Gavrikov and Quinton Byfield.

They canceled the two offenses with APLOMB before Kempe states the fate of the jets with 55 seconds to play. He scored his 32nd goal at the head of an undisputed team by Hellebuyck, who had gone to the bench for an additional attacker.

In the second setting, the Kings seemed to assume control of the game even beyond the dashboard and had the opportunity to store the game with a game of power in mid-period.

But they failed to convert and authorized an objective to Perfetti, who left the penalty box and counted from the right -up point 10 seconds after the expiration of his offense. It was Perfetti’s second goal in two games when he raised nine points in his last 10 appearances.

The Kings, however, retained their advantage of two goals during the second intermission thanks to the second point to remember from Kuzmenko who led to a goal on Tuesday. He removed Logan Stanley on the red line, then rushed into a partial rush two against one, selling a pass with his eyes and the shoulders sliding both a clever shot under the Hellebuyck pads.

The start was largely a tactical battle, but the Kings managed to break through with a rebound – and a goal – 8:28 after the opening game. They added another 1:22 later to set up an advance of 2-0 for 20 minutes.

A clean gift from the Winnipeg area allowed Joel Edmundson, who patinated during his 600th career match on Tuesday, to launch a shooting attempt that was diverted downwards by Moore. The washer hit the ice, the Moore skate and then the nylon behind Hellebuyck. It was the pride of Conejo Valley’s fourth goal in seven games and his 17th of the season.

The second goal of the Kings was more picturesque, a rush count of the upper line. The point to take away at the neutral zone of Kuzmenko sent his trip to a rush to the strange man, with Kempe finding him between the circles, only to see Kuzmenko avoid a spectacle and a dish directly in Kopitar for a single right time. It was the 19th goal of the captain of 2024-25.

Notes

The longtime broadcaster Nick Nickson, who will retire at the end of the season, was honored before the match, and the Kings did him justice on the ice. The Kings extended the franchise record with their 28th home victory of the season. They still have five games at home.

More to come to this story.

Originally published: April 1, 2025 at 10:49 p.m.