Kings Stay Hot at Home With 4–2 Win Over Ovechkin, Capitals

Kings Stay Hot at Home With 4–2 Win Over Ovechkin, Capitals
Alex Ovechkin (8) of the Washington Capitals skates for the puck against Drew Doughty (8) of the Los Angeles Kings in the first period in Los Angeles on March 6, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Associated Press
3/7/2023
Updated:
12/30/2023

LOS ANGELES—Mikey Anderson scored in the third period and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Washington Capitals 4–2 on Monday night, March 6, for their fourth straight win.

Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault and Vladislav Gavrikov also scored, and Pheonix Copley made 20 saves as the Kings won their sixth straight game on home ice.

Alex Ovechkin had a power-play goal and Rasmus Sandin had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who failed to pick up a third straight road win in California. Darcy Kuemper had 37 saves.

Anderson restored the lead at 3–2 for Los Angeles off the rush with his third goal, which was set up by Quinton Byfield’s fourth assist during a four-game streak.

Kempe chipped in an empty-net goal with 1.8 seconds remaining to seal Los Angeles’ win.

Los Angeles Kings' Vladislav Gavrikov (84) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals in Los Angeles March 6, 2023. (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)
Los Angeles Kings' Vladislav Gavrikov (84) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals in Los Angeles March 6, 2023. (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

Oveckhin tied it 2–2 at 2:31 of the third, burying his trademark one-timer from the left circle during a two-man advantage after Copley had saved two prior attempts. It was his 36th goal of the season and 11th on the power play.

Danault put the Kings up 2–1 with 32 seconds left in the second, batting down Viktor Arvidsson’s shot to send it tumbling in underneath Kuemper.

Both the Capitals and Kings acquired defensemen in the run-up to the trade deadline, and it was Sandin and Gavrikov who opened the scoring for their new teams.

Sandin was somehow able to beat Copley five-hole with a backhand shot from his knees after whiffing on a possible one-timer from Sonny Milano midway through the second.

Despite being brought in to offer physicality and address an imbalance between left and right-handed defenders, Gavrikov showed good offensive instincts in crashing the net to put in Kevin Fiala’s rebound to tie it at 1.

Kings F Zach MacEwan made his team debut after being acquired in a trade from Philadelphia on Friday.

Capitals D Nick Jensen (upper body) and Martin Fehervary (lower body) practiced in non-contact jerseys on Monday. Both players were injured against Anaheim on Wednesday.

Up Next

Capitals: Host New Jersey on Thursday night.

Kings: At Colorado on Thursday night.

By Dan Greenspan