Anze Kopitar scored in overtime to cap a three-point game and give the visiting Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.Their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 set for Friday in Los Angeles.Adrian Kempe scored twice while Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala tallied once apiece for the Kings, who recovered after surrendering leads of 3-1 and 4-3. Goalie Cam Talbot made 27 saves. Quinton Byfield posted two assists, including one on the game-winner.Right after Talbot made a stop, Kopitar was sent on a partial breakaway and whipped a top-corner, glove-side shot at 2:07 of the extra period for his first goal of this year's playoffs.Dylan Holloway scored twice while Brett Kulak and Zach Hyman tallied once each for the Oilers. Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Janmark both posted two assists and goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 21 shots.After dropping the series opener 7-4, the Kings were looking for a quick start and received it when Kempe tallied at the 3:19 mark with the game's first shot, which came from the slot.

The Los Angeles Kings will not even bother trying to fool themselves: The Edmonton Oilers were the superior team en route to claiming a 7-4 victory in the opener of their Western Conference first-round playoff series.With Game 2 coming Wednesday in Edmonton, the Kings expect the biggest difference to be their own performance."It's a seven-game series, and you have to win the first to four. We're down 1-0, but we can easily win and make it 1-1 next game," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "We have to put it behind us and learn from what we did wrong and fix what we did wrong and bring it into the next game. That's not our model. That's not the way we play. It's frustrating. We just have to put that game in the past and get back to doing what we do best."Led by their usual suspects, the Oilers staked a 4-0 lead by the game's midway point. The Kings pulled within two by the second intermission, but a couple of costly penalties led to a pair of Edmonton power-play goals early in the third period and it became a coast to the finish line for an Oilers team that scored three times with the man advantage."It was a couple of borderline (calls)," Kings coach Jim Hiller said. "When you could look at it and say you gave them a chance to make that call. There were two for sure that can't be in our game. ... You can't put yourself in a position where the referee's got to make a judgment call."Aside from surrendering a pair of late goals that made the score appear tighter than it actually was, the Oilers opened their Stanley Cup chase with a textbook performance.Connor McDavid became only the 13th player in NHL history -- Wayne Gretzky did it twice -- to record five assists in a playoff game, and the first since 1998. Zach Hyman collected a hat trick in a four-point performance. Evan Bouchard netted four assists, and both Leon Draisaitl and Adam Henrique collected one goal and one assist.A huge key was taking the early lead and building on it, notably against a Kings team capable of strangling a team upon taking a lead.

Zach Hyman collected his first career playoff hat trick in a four-point game and Connor McDavid posted a playoff-best five assists to lead the host Edmonton Oilers to a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Monday.Adam Henrique and Leon Draisaitl both netted one goal and one assist, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Warren Foegele also scored and Evan Bouchard notched a career-best four assists for the Oilers, who snapped a seven-game losing skid in series openers. Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 33 saves.Adrian Kempe logged a goal and an assist and Mikey Anderson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Trevor Moore also scored for the Kings. Goalie Cam Talbot stopped 38 shots.Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be Wednesday in Edmonton.The Oilers, who eliminated the Kings in the opening round of the playoffs each of the past two seasons, won three of four regular-season meetings and continued that dominance.Hyman, a 54-goal marksman in the regular season, opened the scoring 6:52 into the game, on the spot in the slot when McDavid's pass attempt was blocked.Henrique doubled the lead at 9:36 of the first period when he wired a shot from the faceoff dot for his first playoff goal since June 11, 2012, while a member of the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup Final against the Kings. The span of 4,333 days between playoff goals was the longest in NHL history.Hyman's second of the game, a converted shot from the slot seconds after Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson was denied on a breakaway, extended the lead at 4:50 of the second period.Nugent-Hopkins made it a 4-0 game with a power-play goal at 8:24 of the middle frame.

Another trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs and another chance for the Los Angeles Kings to exact revenge against the Edmonton Oilers.As the Kings hit the road to open their Western Conference playoff series with Edmonton on Monday, the third consecutive year the clubs have met in the first round, it is with the reminder of how the Oilers have dispatched them in each of the past two seasons."There's definitely going to be a lot of lessons learned," Los Angeles forward Quinton Byfield said. "We had a younger group coming in a couple of years ago ... and I know a lot of guys in that room have got a lot more playoff experience. We know they're a really good team. They have some star players, so it's going to be a hard series, but hopefully it's our time."Edmonton overcame a horrible start to the season before rocketing up the standings and finishing second in the Pacific Division. The Kings capped a 6-2-0 run to finish the regular season with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Chicago Blackhawks to clinch the third spot in the division.As was the case during the previous two postseason meetings, this series will be a study of Los Angeles and its ability to defend Edmonton's high-octane attack."We can talk about individual players on our side and their side. It's going to take us as a collective, we know that," Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. "I really like where we are as a collective. We're healthy. I think we're confident and we're excited. I think you're going to see a passionate hockey team."The Oilers won three of four meetings with Los Angeles during the regular season.As much as Edmonton can be lauded for being one of the league's best teams for a lengthy stretch after winning only twice in its first dozen games, the Oilers somewhat limped into the playoffs. They finished the campaign with only one victory in their final five games (1-3-1).

Adrian Kempe scored six seconds into overtime -- tied for the fastest OT goal in NHL history -- to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 5-4 win against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night in the regular-season finale.Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals, including the game-tying goal during six-on-four play with 1:21 left, and he added an assist for the Kings (44-27-11, 99 points), who leapfrogged the Vegas Golden Knights (45-29-8, 98 points) for third place in the Pacific Division.Kempe, Quinton Byfield and Trevor Moore each had a goal and an assist, Phillip Danault had three assists and Cam Talbot made nine saves for Los Angeles, which will face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round for a third straight season.Tyler Johnson, Joey Anderson and Ryan Donato scored five minutes apart early in the third period to give Chicago a 4-3 lead.Lukas Reichel also scored and Arvid Soderblom made 31 saves for the Blackhawks (23-53-6, 52 points), who ended the second on a six-game losing streak and with the second-fewest points in the NHL.Reichel scored on a partial breakaway to give Chicago a 1-0 lead at 15:39 of the first period.After the Kings outshot the Blackhawks 14-4 in the first period, they outscored Chicago 11-3 in the second.Danault chased down a dump-in behind the Chicago net, circled around and fed Arvidsson for a one-timer from the left circle that squeezed through the pads of Soderblom to tie it 1-1 at 4:37 of the second.The Blackhawks appeared to score short-handed with 7:45 left in the second period when Jason Dickinson put in his own rebound. After a league-requested review, however, it was determined Dickinson scored with a distinct kicking motion.

The Los Angeles Kings don't need a victory against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks in their regular-season finale on Thursday night, but they'd certainly prefer one heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.The Kings (43-27-11, 97 points) clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season a week ago and have split their two games since.Los Angeles can still finish third in the Pacific Division if it can beat Chicago and the Vegas Golden Knights lose in any fashion to the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.The third-place finisher in the Pacific will face the second-place Edmonton Oilers in the first round. A difficult team to beat, no doubt, but so are the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks, who will play the two wild-card finishers in the Western Conference"I don't think it matters who we play," Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. "Anyone that's making the postseason is a really good team. Whoever it is, we need to be ready to play."The Kings weren't happy with their intensity in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Minnesota Wild on Monday. Their effort wasn't much better in a 3-1 win against the Ducks last Saturday."Sometimes, maybe, it's a relief you get in (the playoffs), but at the same time you can't be taking steps back," Anderson said. "We've got to keep building, because you don't get any time after the year to build your game up, you're jumping right into it. So, just making sure we're ready to go. We've got one more try at it before you need to be ready."Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller isn't satisfied with how the Kings have played the past few games, but he's not concerned the lack of intensity will leak into the playoffs.He'd like to see his players lock in on Chicago, just to get their minds off who they'll be facing in the first round of the playoffs."We're in a playoff race, that's the way I see it," Hiller said. "That can be the only way you approach it, because you've got to play, you've got to want to win every game and that's what you're doing and then you'll let the chips fall where they may. Different things can happen, who knows, but for us, the focus is on us."

Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist as the Minnesota Wild ended Los Angeles' eight-game home winning streak by beating the Kings 3-1 on Monday night.Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman also scored, Marco Rossi had two assists and Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for Minnesota (39-32-10, 88 points), which was outscored by a combined 13-3 in its previous two meetings with Los Angeles this season.Blake Lizotte scored and Cam Talbot had 26 saves and an assist for the Kings (43-27-11, 97 points), who remain one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division.Los Angeles has one game left, on Thursday against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, while Vegas has two games to go.The Kings were trying to win nine straight at home for the first time since a their franchise-record, 12-game run at home in 1992-93.Minnesota scored a power-play goal for the seventh straight game to take a 1-0 lead at 14:14 of the first period.Boldy received a lateral pass from Rossi as he crossed the Los Angeles blue line with speed. He cut between defensemen Vladislav Gavrikov and Matt Roy before sliding the puck between Talbot's pads for his 29th goal of the season.After the Wild killed their second penalty of the first period, Alex Goligoski nearly scored coming out of the box.

The Los Angeles Kings and Minnesota Wild have been miles apart for most of the 2023-24 campaign. They'll get together one more time on Monday night in Los Angeles before going their separate ways for good this season.The Kings (43-26-11, 97 points) are headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs for a third straight season, while Minnesota (38-33-9, 85 points) will miss the postseason for just the second time in 12 years.The Wild are using their last few games to take a long look at some of their top prospects.Los Angeles, meanwhile, wants to maintain its winning ways over its final two regular-season games while also being mindful of its veteran players."We want to play well," Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said. "We'll take the wins. We want to win, of course, but we just want to be feeling good. Whether that's winning or playing well and maybe not quite getting it done, just feeling good going into (the playoffs)."Hiller kept veteran forward Anze Kopitar out of the lineup for the first time this season on Saturday night in a 3-1 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks because of "something nagging." Hiller also indicated Kopitar would have played if it were a postseason game.It's unclear if the 36-year-old captain will face the Wild.Regardless, the Kings want to remain in peak form."If you can go into the playoffs feeling good, I think it just kind of helps your team's mindset and you just kind of feel more ready," Kings defenseman Matt Roy said. "You don't want to go in losing focus or confidence. You want to be ready to go and you want your teammates to be ready to go as well."Los Angeles also has a chance to run its home winning streak to nine games, which would be its longest since a 12-game run in 1992-93.The Kings set an NHL record by winning their first 11 road games this season."We knew we had to dial it in at home because we weren't doing well at all in the beginning," Roy said. "I'm glad we did."

David Rittich made 28 saves for the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-1 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.Pierre-Luc Dubois, Matt Roy and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings (43-26-11, 97 points), who moved three points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division with two games left for Los Angeles and three for Vegas.Los Angeles, which clinched its third straight berth in the postseason with a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Thursday, has won eight straight at home, the longest home-winning streak since Los Angeles won its first eight home games to start the 2010-11 season.Trevor Zegras scored and Lukas Dostal made 25 saves for the Ducks (26-50-5, 57 points), who were coming off a 6-3 loss to the visiting Flames on Friday and have lost 9 of 11 overall (2-7-2).Anaheim rookie defenseman Olen Zellweger was in the penalty box for tripping Quinton Byfield when Dubois scored to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the second period.Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe batted the puck around in front of the crease until it came to Dubois at the side of the net, and he swiped it into the net for his 16th goal of the season.

The Los Angeles Kings have assured themselves a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. How much effort they will put into winning the final three games of the regular season remains to be seen.The Kings continue a four-game homestand to close out the regular season by hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.Los Angeles (42-26-11, 95 points) remains in a tight battle for third in the Pacific Division with the Vegas Golden Knights, but that place in the standings also likely would come with a first-round matchup against the red-hot Edmonton Oilers.On Saturday, the Kings might want to try to redeem their 3-1 loss to the Ducks on Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif., which delayed them locking up a playoff spot for a third straight season.That moment finally arrived with a 4-1 win against the visiting Calgary Flames on Thursday, eliciting a big sigh of relief and earning the players a day off on Friday."That was our goal when we started training camp, so one step at a time," Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson said after scoring two goals against Calgary. "We did a good job in the regular season to get to this point."Kings interim coach Jim Hiller said reaching the postseason has been a teamwide effort, beginning when they opened the season in Australia and through a turbulent midseason stretch that cost coach Todd McLellan his job."Everybody who has been involved has been a part of the team reaching the playoffs," Hiller said. "I think everybody should be proud of that; it's a hard thing to do. More importantly, it's an exciting thing to do because now you get to take the next step. We've earned the right to take the next step."The Ducks (26-49-5, 57 points) are coming off a 6-3 loss to the visiting Flames on Friday.

Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals and the Los Angeles Kings clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season with a 4-1 win against the visiting Calgary Flames on Thursday night.Kevin Fiala and Akil Thomas also scored, Anze Kopitar had two assists and Cam Talbot made 23 saves for the Kings (42-26-11, 95 points), who won their fourth game in the past five to take a three-point lead over the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division.Los Angeles has three games remaining, and Vegas has four left.Jonathan Huberdeau scored and Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves for the Flames (35-38-5, 75 points), who have lost nine of their past 11 games.The Kings went on the game's first power play after Daniil Miromanov was penalized for closing his glove on the puck, and Fiala scored his 28th goal of the season shortly afterward to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead at 6:48 of the first period.Fiala received a pass from Kopitar above the right circle with Arvidsson providing a screen. Markstrom looked to one side of Arvidsson as Fiala shot the puck past him on the other side.The Kings scored 54 seconds into the second period to extend their lead to 2-0.Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault cycled the puck in the Calgary zone before it went to Arvidsson along the wall. He skated into the right circle, then beat Markstrom with a wrist shot for his third goal in 15 games this season.

Before the Los Angeles Kings can focus on winning their first Stanley Cup playoff series in 10 years, they need to reserve a spot in the postseason.The Kings can check that off the list with a win against the visiting Calgary Flames on Thursday night.Los Angeles (41-26-11, 93 points) missed its first opportunity to clinch a third straight playoff berth on Tuesday night, losing 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks, a team it had defeated eight straight times."Clinching a playoff spot is always difficult, especially if it comes down to the last four or five games of the year," Kings forward Blake Lizotte said.Los Angeles veteran forward Trevor Lewis, one of three current Kings who were on the 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup championship teams, said he and his teammates weren't feeling additional pressure to clinch against the Ducks."Everyone knows where we're at," he said. "We're trying to prepare like we're going into playoffs here. When you get into the playoffs, you can't just flip a switch. We got to make sure we got our details down. Play every game really hard."Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller concurred."You get together months ago to try to get to this point," Hiller said. "This is a veteran team, so I wouldn't put any weight in that. I would put weight in the way we started the game (against Anaheim), and then we thought it might be easy and it is never easy in the National (Hockey) League."Hiller said the Kings didn't do a good enough job of getting the puck deep against the Ducks."When we did, we had success," Hiller said. "When we didn't, they scored two goals and also pushed us back, so that's a pretty easy fix, it's just understanding and having the will to do it over and over again."The Flames (35-37-5, 75 points) were eliminated from the playoffs last Thursday following a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.It was a disappointing follow-up to last season, when Calgary finished just two points behind the Jets for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Lukas Dostal made 36 saves and Ryan Strome had two assists as the Anaheim Ducks recorded a 3-1 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.The Ducks ended a two-game winless streak (0-1-1) and won for just the third time in their past 17 games (3-12-2).Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn, and Trevor Zegras scored three unanswered goals for the Ducks (26-48-5, 57 points) after Akil Thomas gave the Kings a first-period lead.Dostal improved his season record to 13-22-3.Cam Talbot stopped 24 of 27 shots for the Kings, whose three-game winning streak ended.Los Angeles (41-26-11, 93 points) would have officially clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a win. The Kings are a point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division, and Vegas is five points up on the St. Louis Blues for the final Western Conference wild-card berth.Anaheim was 0-7-1 in its previous eight games with Los Angeles, dating back to the 2021-22 season. It was tied for the third-longest winless streak against a single opponent in Ducks franchise history.

The Los Angeles Kings look to continue their roll toward the playoffs when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.In what has been an up-and-down season in Los Angeles, the Kings (41-25-11, 93 points) seem to once again be hitting their stride as the postseason approaches. Los Angeles is on a three-game winning streak, including a 6-3 statement win over the Pacific Division-leading Vancouver Canucks on Saturday."We're excited. I think we're also kind of paying attention to the standings," said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who had a goal and an assist against Vancouver. "We just want to move up as high as we possibly can. We don't care who we face. We're just worrying about ourselves."The Kings are battling the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division, with a Western Conference wild-card berth as a potential backup plan for whichever team finishes fourth. Los Angeles is six points ahead of the St. Louis Blues, the first team in the West out of a wild-card spot.Anaheim (25-48-5, 55 points) couldn't play spoiler to the Blues' chances on Sunday, though the Ducks at least took the game beyond regulation in a 6-5 shootout loss. The Ducks trailed 5-3 with 12 minutes remaining in the third period before Frank Vatrano and Leo Carlsson scored to force overtime."I liked how we came back," Vatrano said. "I liked the way we responded and played that game. ... (The defensemen) were connected to the forwards, forwards were connected to the D. When we're playing like that, it's fun."The Ducks have the third-fewest points in the NHL and are 2-12-2 in their past 16 games.Vatrano leads Anaheim with 55 points (32 goals, 23 assists) this season.Adrian Kempe leads Los Angeles with 71 points (27 goals, 44 assists). Kempe has eight points (five goals, three assists) during an ongoing five-game point streak.

Adrian Kempe had two goals and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings continued their mastery of the visiting Vancouver Canucks with a 6-3 win on Saturday.The Kings (41-25-11, 93 points) have now won five of their past six games against Vancouver (47-22-8, 102 points) and clinched the season series 3-1.Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and an assist and Anze Kopitar had two assists for the Kings, who have won three straight games. Cam Talbot stopped 39 shots.Brock Boeser, Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks, who have lost four of their past six games as they work toward the Pacific Division title.Casey DeSmith made 23 saves.The Kings stormed out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period by scoring on their first two power plays of the game.Kempe walked in and snapped a shot over the right arm of DeSmith at 2:48 of the first on the Kings' first man advantage. Doughty doubled the lead just under three minutes later, tallying his 15th goal of the campaign at the 5:45 mark.Boeser scored his 39th marker of the season at 10:48 of the period to cut the Kings' lead to 2-1.

Vancouver hasn't had a whole lot of success against the Los Angeles Kings this season, but with Saturday's clash serving as a potential first-round playoff matchup, the Canucks are in need of a momentum-building victory.With the start of the postseason just two weeks away, the Pacific Division-leading Canucks (47-21-8, 102 points) are trying to avoid losing three of four against the Kings (40-25-11, 91 points) this season.The Canucks have already booked a playoff spot after missing out in seven of the previous eight seasons, but have hit a rough patch in their bid to clinch the division title.They have lost three of their past five games as they wrap up a three-game road trip in Southern California. Both wins, against the Arizona Coyotes and the Anaheim Ducks, came on tiebreaking goals late in the third period.Vancouver led the Edmonton Oilers by seven points for first place in the Pacific Division entering Edmonton's game Friday against Colorado.The Canucks have won the division just nine times in their 54-year history.Conor Garland scored a tiebreaking goal with just under two minutes left in the third period as the Canucks claimed a 2-1 victory over the Coyotes on Wednesday.Canucks captain Quinn Hughes had one goal and one assist against the Coyotes in the victory, while goaltender Arturs Silovs made 20 saves.As overtime loomed, Hughes eluded a check before getting to the top of the left circle and fired a shot off the back boards. Garland pounced on the loose puck and netted his 16th goal of the season with 1:51 remaining."Not an easy game," Hughes said. "We had a couple of power plays in the second period that got us going."Hughes, who is a candidate for the Norris Trophy (top defenseman), is putting an exclamation mark on the best season of his career.

Akil Thomas scored his first NHL goal to help the visiting Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 2-1 on Thursday night.Adrian Kempe also scored and David Rittich made 15 saves for the Kings, (40-25-11, 91 points), who pulled within a point of the Nashville Predators for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and within a point of the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division.Los Angeles also increased its lead over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card in the West to seven points.Los Angeles, St. Louis and Nashville each have six games left and the Golden Knights have seven remaining.Klim Kostin scored for the second straight game and Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves for the Sharks (17-50-8, 42 points), who have lost 11 of 12.The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 10:55 of the first period.The Sharks had possession in the Los Angeles zone, but Kostin tried to pass the puck back to the blue line. Kempe intercepted the pass and outraced two San Jose players before beating Blackwood for his 25th goal of the season.Thomas, who was playing in his second NHL game, scored 18 seconds later to extend the lead to 2-0.

Trevor Moore notched his second NHL hat trick to help the Los Angeles Kings end a three-game skid with a 5-2 win against the visiting Seattle Kraken on Wednesday evening.Kevin Fiala had a goal and an assist and Pierre-Luc Dubois had three assists for the Kings, who are a point back of the Nashville Predators for the first wild card from the Western Conference and three points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for third in the Pacific Division. All three teams have seven games remaining in the regular season.Cam Talbot made 21 saves for Los Angeles (39-25-11, 89 points).Andre Burakovsky and Brian Dumoulin scored and Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves for the Kraken (31-31-13, 75 points), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention.Adrian Kempe scored his 24th goal of the season while on a power play to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at 9:24 of the first period. Kempe found room in the slot and Viktor Arvidsson fed him for the one-timer.The Kings extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:39 of the second period.Los Angeles passed the puck around the perimeter before defenseman Matt Roy fed Moore for a redirection from just above the crease.Moore scored again at 11:49 of the second period to make it 3-0.Seattle turned the puck over in the neutral zone and Dubois -- who assisted on all of Moore's goals -- brought the puck down the right side before centering a pass to Moore. His initial shot was saved by Grubauer, but Moore scored the rebound.

The Los Angeles Kings will try to continue capitalizing on a favorable closing schedule when they visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.Los Angeles (39-25-11, 89 points) will face just one playoff-bound team over its final seven games, including four against the bottom three teams in the NHL standings.The Kings didn't let the visiting Seattle Kraken off the hook on Wednesday night, winning 5-2 to eliminate them from playoff contention.The victory pulled the Kings within a point of the Nashville Predators for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The win also gave them a five-point cushion over the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card.Los Angeles also is just three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for third place in the Pacific Division."All the points are important right now," Kings forward Trevor Moore said after recording his second NHL hat trick in the win against the Kraken.Kings forward Phillip Danault won't travel to San Jose, Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said after the win over Seattle.Danault has been a game-time decision the past two games with an upper-body injury but ended up missing both. Danault is sixth on the Kings with 17 goals.In his absence, Los Angeles went with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Kraken.The Sharks (17-49-8, 42 points) might seem like easy prey after dropping 19 of their past 21 games (2-16-3), but coach David Quinn had some sharp things to say after San Jose lost 4-2 to the visiting Kraken on Monday. Perhaps those words could inspire the Sharks."There's a pattern going on now where we've gotten off to bad starts the last three games," Quinn said. "We have to do a better job of being ready to go at the drop of the puck. You don't have much of a chance in this league when you're only playing 40 minutes."After the Sharks fell behind 3-1 in the first period against Seattle, Klim Kostin halved the deficit early in the second period, and that score remained until the Kraken produced an empty-net goal with eight seconds left.

The Los Angeles Kings hope returning home to face the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night will be enough to help them snap a three-game losing streak at a particularly vital point of the season.The Kings (38-25-11, 87 points) are clinging to the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, three points ahead of St. Louis with eight games left for Los Angeles and seven for the Blues."Home ice is going to help," Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov said. "The crowd is going to cheer for us, so that's huge. We haven't played at home in a while, and that's going to help us for sure."The Kings are coming off a 4-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday that capped a four-game Canadian trip.Los Angeles should have forward Phillip Danault back in the lineup after he missed the past two games with an upper-body injury. He was considered a game-time decision against the Jets.Danault has 17 goals this season, sixth most on the Kings.Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller has been impressed with the way Blake Lizotte has elevated his play in Danault's absence."He was playing 12, 13, 14 minutes a night with 11 (forwards), so he's done a great job," Hiller said of Lizotte. "He gives you everything he's got, you know that every time, and he's really carried the puck and he's been dangerous for us offensively, too."Hiller also liked what he saw during the NHL debut of center Akil Thomas against Winnipeg.The second-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft played just 3:42, but he delivered three hits during that span."The speed of this game and the physicality, it's a tough one to walk into for your first game, I can tell you that," Hiller said. "He showed himself well."He didn't play that much and if he gets another one, he'll probably end up playing a little bit more."The Kraken (31-30-13, 75 points) have regrouped following an eight-game losing streak last month and have won three of their past four, including a 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on Monday.