Jeff Carter scored twice during a four-goal second period, Budaj made 19 saves and Los Angeles thumped the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-0.

Budaj hasn’t allowed a goal in 150:32 and has a 1.86 goals-against average while filling in for Quick, out with a lower-body injury since the opening game of the season.

”I’m glad I’m getting into the game rhythm a little bit,” Budaj told NHL.com. ”I’m seeing the puck really well right now and I just have to continue working hard and try to help the team.”

Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli added goals in the second period and Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford and Dwight King also scored. Los Angeles has won three straight.

Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 26 shots, and then Jhonas Enroth came on and made 14 saves.

The Leafs had won three straight.

”As optimistic as everything appears one day and you win three in a row, then you get your lunch fed to you and you’re not competitive and not organized and not prepared,” coach Mike Babcock said. ”It was a humbling experience for our players and myself here in our building.”

One of the younger teams in the league, the Leafs were ultimately schooled by a more veteran opponent, one that’s captured the Stanley Cup twice in the past five seasons.

”They taught us a lesson tonight,” Toronto forward Nazem Kadri said.

The Kings had the bulk of the chances in the first period, scoring with 6:04 left in the period on Brown’s second this year. Third-line center Nic Dowd did the dirty work, controlling the puck down low before finding Brown atop the left faceoff circle.

His shot through a maze of moving bodies beat Andersen, who entered the evening with a .944 save percentage in his previous five starts. The Leafs had a chance to get the puck out initially but Martin Marincin’s exit feed never quite reaching Ben Smith along the wall.

The Leafs came up with a couple decent chances early in the second. James van Riemsdyk was stopped by Budaj’s blocker while efforts from the all-rookie line of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Zach Hyman were also shut down.

Matthews, who had 10 points in his first six NHL games, has only one point in his last seven.

Following that initial push from the Leafs, the Kings got two goals in less than two minutes, one from Pearson and another from Toffoli.

After the Leafs failed to come up with a puck in the neutral zone, Anze Kopitar scooped it up and found Pearson, who easily beat Andersen. Almost two minutes later, Toffoli finished off an odd-man rush for the 3-0 lead.

Carter added two more goals for the Kings less than five minutes apart. The first again came after the visitors march easily into the Toronto zone, and Carter’s shot and goal ending Andersen’s night.

Carter banked his second of the game and fifth this season off Enroth from behind the Leafs goal.

NOTES: The Kings added third period goals by Clifford and Lewis. Derek Forbort had a career-high three assists. … The Leafs were outshot 43-19 overall. Tuesday marked just their second loss in six games at home (4-2-0).

UP NEXT

Kings: Play at Montreal on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs: Host Philadelphia on Friday night.

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A corrected version of the story is below:

Kings score twice on PP to beat Coyotes 4-2

Kings get power-play goals from Gaborik, Carter in 4-2 win over Coyotes

By JOE RESNICK

Associated Press

On the third anniversary of his hiring as coach of the Los Angeles Kings, Darryl Sutter’s squad delivered a solid two-way performance complete with superb special-teams play at both ends of the rink.

Jeff Carter scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period during a power play, his second of the game, and the defending Stanley Cup champions beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Saturday.

Since Sutter’s arrival, the Kings have won two Cups and appear poised to challenge for a third – after going the first 45 years of their existence with only one trip to the finals.

”It was huge when he came here, because we started playing a more upbeat-tempo game,” center Anze Kopitar said. ”He’s a really good motivator. We always had a lot of talent and potential here, but he brings out the best in us and he knows how to push our buttons. That’s for sure. And for the most part, he’s pushing the right ones.”

Marian Gaborik also connected with the man advantage for his sixth goal in four games. Trevor Lewis had a goal and Jonathan Quick made 15 saves for the Kings. Kopitar, who set a career high for points with a goal and four assists Thursday night in a 6-4 win over St. Louis, had three assists against the Coyotes.

Los Angeles defenseman Robyn Regehr was scratched because of an upper-body injury that occurred during the victory over St. Louis. As a result, Jamie McBain was back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 29 after nine games as a healthy scratch and got assists on both power-play goals.

Martin Hanzal and Kyle Chipchura scored for Arizona, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 31 shots.

Carter’s 10th goal of the season came at 1:34 of the third, just 10 seconds after Hanzal got a penalty for closing his hand on the puck.

Gaborik tied it 2-all at 17:40 of the second, capitalizing on a power play while Coyotes captain Shane Doan was off for interference.

”We just didn’t play hard enough and took some stupid penalties, especially in the offensive zone. It was unacceptable,” Hanzal said. ”Obviously, when you’re playing a team like that with a 2-1 lead and you give opportunities on the power play, at some point they’re going to make you pay.”

The Coyotes, who have only one regulation victory in their last 14 games, tied it at 1 just 44 seconds after the first intermission as Hanzal outraced defenseman Jake Muzzin to a loose puck deep in the Kings zone and flipped his sixth goal over Quick’s shoulder.

Chipchura put Arizona ahead at 5:42 of the second on a double deflection, sending a shot toward the net that caromed in off Kings teammates Mike Richards and Brayden McNabb after Chipchura worked the puck away from Matt Greene.

”We came out pretty good, dictating the tempo. It could just as easily have gone south in a hurry after those two goals, but we stuck together and got it done on the power play,” Kopitar said. ”I thought our penalty-killing was pretty solid, too, and that will win you games.”

Los Angeles went on the power play 15 seconds after the opening faceoff when Hanzal was sent off for holding Kopitar. Less than a minute later, Antoine Vermette sent David Moss on a breakaway and Quick made the save.

”Quickie’s been doing that for I don’t know how many years now,” Lewis said. ”He makes those big saves for us, and it really gets the bench up and gets us going, so we want to battle hard for him. We came back and scored some big goals.”

Moments after his short backhander hit the left post behind Quick on a rebound, Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle’s attempted clearing pass at the other end of the rink was blocked by Kopitar, and Carter beat Dubnyk at 17:22 of the first to open the scoring.

NOTES: Hanzal’s goal was his first in 11 games since his hat trick Nov. 14 at Vancouver. … Richards hasn’t scored a goal in his last 22 regular-season home games since March 22. … Arizona’s Dave Tippett became the 30th man to coach at least 900 regular-season games in the NHL. He spent three seasons as a Kings assistant under Andy Murray before getting the Dallas Stars job in 2002-03. … The Coyotes have allowed 11 goals in 31 short-handed situations over their last nine games

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They turned that, just barely, into a critical win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Charlie Coyle and Cal Clutterbuck scored 16 seconds apart late in the first period, helping the Wild break their five-game home losing streak and hang on to beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.

“I really believe that competitors in games like that find a way to go out and be really good,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “And that’s what we had.”

Jeff Carter’s slap shot whizzed past Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom with an improbable 0.8 seconds left before the second intermission, pulling the Kings within one. It was Carter’s 26th goal, tied for third in the NHL. Then as the Kings created some late energy, Slava Voynov’s shot from the far edge of the right circle was stopped by a sprawling Backstrom with 11 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the lead.

“You’ve got to play 60 minutes playing a desperate hockey team,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said, adding: “We turned the puck over too much in the first period. Eventually, when you have that much skill on the other side, they’re going to score.”

With a 3-7-1 record in the last 11 games since this month began and that playoff spot still unsecured, the Wild badly needed a victory. After losing their past two games by a combined 10-2 margin, their hold on seventh place in the Western Conference was tenuous with two games left in the regular season after this.

“The bar has been set, and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to bring at least that the next game,” Yeo said.

Clutterbuck snapped an 18-game streak without a goal. Relentless on both ends all night with his new linemate Devin Setoguchi, Clutterbuck raised his arms in celebration after his tight-angle shot sneaked between Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier and the left post. He jumped against the boards, with the Wild ahead 2-0.

“This was probably the biggest game I’ve ever played in for this franchise, so I was excited,” Clutterbuck said.

The Kings failed to get a point for only the third time in their last 15 games. Bernier, in the net for the first time in seven games in relief of Jonathan Quick, made 23 saves. The Kings can’t do better than the fourth seed, but they don’t want to fall to fifth or sixth and lose that home-ice advantage for the first round. San Jose and St. Louis have been right behind all month.

“We didn’t play three periods. We didn’t deserve to win the game,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

Brown fired up the Wild with a vicious-looking elbow to the jaw of Jason Pominville in the second period that went without penalty and knocked Pominville on his back. He woozily and slowly skated off the ice with a trainer’s guidance and didn’t return to the bench. Yeo said he had no update on Pominville’s condition and declined to comment on the hit. Brown, who had the puck on his stick at the time, said he was trying to brace himself for a hit from Pominville.

“We’ve seen it on the replay, but I’m sure someone will look at it,” Setoguchi said. “The game’s going fast. From our end, it was right in the head on the face.”

The Wild already without one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley for the remainder of the season. Losing Pominville for any stretch would be a significant setback.

“I think we handled it really well, and that’s something to be focusing on,” said Backstrom, who stopped 22 shots. “Grow on that, that nothing rattles us no matter what happens there.”

Game notes

Kings C Anze Kopitar has his goal-less streak reach 14 straight games. … The Wild’s AHL affiliate, moving to Des Moines, Iowa, next season, will be called, naturally, the Iowa Wild. … Josh Harding was on the active roster as Backstrom’s backup for the first time since early February. Harding was placed on injured reserve after developing complications from the multiple sclerosis medication he’s been taking, and he was returned from a conditioning stint with Houston on Monday. … Bernier’s shutout streak against the Wild ended at 89:06. … Fourth-line enforcer Zenon Konopka returned from a foot injury for the Wild.

The post Cal Clutterbuck, Charlie Coyle help Wild stay alive in playoff race appeared first on IdealCapper.

The defending Stanley Cup champions are on another roll, and the chemistry they developed during last year’s title run is starting to show.

Kopitar scored on a slick pass from King with 4:48 to play, and Los Angeles rallied from a third-period deficit for its fifth straight victory, 2-1 over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night.

Los Angeles is on its longest winning streak of the season, capturing seven of eight overall after a 3-5-2 start to its title defense. Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves for the Kings, who are succeeding with the formula that won the Cup last season: stellar goaltending backed by opportunistic offense from all four lines.

“I think we’re putting together a pretty good streak here, and we’ve got to keep it going,” Kopitar said. “We know we had a bit of a slow start and we’ve got some catching up to do.”

One day after trading seven-time, 20-goal scorer Simon Gagne to Philadelphia for a conditional draft pick, the Kings began with 50 scoreless minutes against Jimmy Howard, who stopped 27 shots.

The Kings finally tied it with 9:34 left on Jeff Carter’s goal during a two-man advantage. King then made a spinning pass from the boards in front to Kopitar, who beat Howard for his sixth goal of the season.

Late goals from two veteran stars thrilled the sellout crowd at Staples Center, where the Kings completed an unbeaten February run — albeit in just four home games. Los Angeles also avenged a last-minute loss to the Wings in Detroit 17 days earlier.

“We thought we deserved better in Detroit, so maybe it all comes down to the hockey god, right?” Kings coach Darryl Sutter asked. “I don’t think we had much in the tank, to be honest. The goaltender was the difference in the game.”

Except for a misadventure with his glove on Quincey’s goal, Bernier was outstanding in the backup goalie’s fourth consecutive victory since Feb. 2.

Kyle Quincey scored his first goal of the season on a misplay by Bernier in the first period, and the mistake was the only thing that prevented the Red Wings from getting shut out for the first time since their season opener.

The Red Wings had won two straight after an 0-3-2 skid, but Detroit blew a 40-minute lead for just the second time in nine games this season, while the Kings rallied from a two-period deficit for the second time this year.

“I’ve got to give us a chance to win, but it wasn’t enough,” Howard said. “We were playing a great road game there. We were just grinding it out and making smart plays. (But it) doesn’t matter who you play, you can’t be giving up three 5-on-3s.”

Center Johan Franzen returned to Detroit’s lineup after missing seven games with a hip injury, and defenseman Brendan Smith returned from an 11-game absence with an injured shoulder. Quincey also returned after missing the past two games with an injured ankle.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock used the injury turnover to shake up his lineup, benching defensemen Ian White and Kent Huskins.

“We built on our last game there with a lot of movement, a lot of shots,” captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Only thing we didn’t have is goals.”

Detroit dominated play early and scored on a comical misplay by Bernier. After King gave away the puck, Quincey’s high shot toward the net popped out of Bernier’s glove and arced over his head, falling softly into the goal behind him.

Quincey hadn’t registered a point in 17 games this season, and hadn’t scored a goal since last March 19 against Washington.

Los Angeles showed more spark later, but its oft-struggling power play had a particularly low moment in the second period after three consecutive Red Wings penalties. Given two full minutes of 5-on-3 play, the Kings barely threatened Howard and the Detroit defensemen, who got a loud ovation from the red-clad fans crowding the lower bowl.

But the Kings got another 5-on-3 advantage midway through the third period when Pavel Datsyuk received a rare minor penalty for a faceoff violation, and Carter deflected Mike Richards’ shot through Howard’s legs for his 11th goal.

Carter scored a goal in his fifth straight game, one short of the longest streak of his career.

Game notes

Los Angeles LW Dustin Penner played in his 500th NHL game. He recently took the lineup spot of Gagne, who hadn’t scored a goal in 11 games this season. … Detroit D Carlo Colaiacovo is expected to return from a shoulder injury Sunday, which would put nine defensemen on the Red Wings roster. … Irish forward Robbie Keane attended the game along with most of the two-time defending MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy, who begin their regular season Sunday.

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