LOS ANGELES (AP) - Martin Frk scored the go-ahead-goal in the third period, Gabriel Vilardi had a goal and an assist, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Wednesday night for their seventh straight victory.
Trevor Lewis also scored and Calvin Petersen made 24 saves for the Kings, who are 10-2-1 in their past 13 games.
“It’s selfish for me to say because I’m one of the new faces coming in, but we’ve won seven games,” Vilardi said. “That means we’re obviously doing somethings right. It feels pretty good to win hockey games. That’s what we want to do.”
Bobby Ryan and Jayce Hawryluk had goals for the Senators, and Craig Anderson made 36 saves.
Frk scored on an odd-man rush with 4:41 remaining to lead the Kings to their sixth straight win at home after Vilardi tied it at 2 on a shot from the right circle through traffic late on a power play at 9:12. Vilardi has two goals and two assists during a three-game point streak.
“It was a close game right to the end,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “Both teams had their chances. We had some chances with the goalie out. Unfortunately, took a couple penalties in the third period, and then they find a way to score late.”
Hawryluk was at the edge of the crease to redirect Andreas Englund’s shot in during a delayed penalty at 1:57 of the third period to put the Senators up 2-1. Claimed off waivers Florida on Feb. 17, Hawryluk has two goals and five assists in 11 games for the Senators.
Ryan scored from the left circle to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the game. It was Ryan’s fourth goal in eight games after participating in the NHL/National Hockey League Players’ Association assistance program because of a problem with alcohol.
“When you start like that, that’s just a bonus. But after last night, I think we made a commitment to doing things correctly for the first 10 minutes and really making things simple, and then kind of trying to build and I thought we did a good job,” Ryan said after Ottawa trailed 4-0 after the first period in a 5-2 loss at Anaheim on Tuesday.
The Kings tied it at 1 when Lewis beat Anderson between his legs after having his initial shot saved. It was his third goal in the past seven games after scoring twice in his first 48 games. Ben Hutton had the secondary assist, his third in a three-game streak.
It was the 1,082nd game played in the NHL this season and could be the last for the foreseeable future, with the league and NHLPA set to hold discussions Thursday on how the coronavirus could impact the remainder of the season.
The game was played in a half-full Staples Center and those fans that did attend were largely subdued, with a fight between Senators center Colin White and Kings forward Austin Wagner late in the first period one of the few early moments that generated energy.
“Night felt strange, it didn’t feel feel like a normal game,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Obviously the players head the news before about the basketball game so it was a little bit unemotional. There wasn’t any intensity, at least on our behalf I think, until we got scored on and then we realized it was time to play. But a different night for us.”
NOTES: Senators F Brady Tkachuk had an assist, his third point in the past two games. … Lewis played in his 674th game for the Kings, passing Mike Murphy for 10th most in franchise history. … The Kings agreed to terms on a three-year contract with C Alex Turcotte, the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Turcotte had nine goals and 17 assists as a freshman at Wisconsin.
UP NEXT
Senators: Visit Chicago on Friday night.
Kings: Host Anaheim on Saturday.
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