Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault lead Kings past Kraken

Adrian Kempe, Phillip Danault lead Kings past Kraken for fourth win in a row

The Kings' Phillip Danault, at right, celebrates with teammates after his second-period goal Saturday night.

By Tim Booth

Associated Press

Jan. 15, 2022 10:08 PM PT

SEATTLE — Adrian Kempe scored his career-high 17th goal of the season early in the first period, Phillip Danault scored twice, and the Kings beat the Seattle Kraken 3-1 on Saturday night for their fourth straight win.

The Kings (20-13-5) won for the sixth time in their last seven, jumping to a 2-0 lead while clamping down on defense.

Seattle (10-23-4) lost its ninth straight and has dropped 12 of 13. Marcus Johansson scored on a power play in the second period, but the Kraken were limited to 18 shots on goal against Cal Petersen.

Chris Dreidger made 19 saves but lost his second consecutive start. Dreidger started Thursday’s 2-1 loss in St. Louis.

Danault scored his eighth goal of the season 4:10 into the second period and added an empty-netter in the last minute.

Kempe grabbed the rebound of Alex Iafallo’s shot 4:06 into the game, maneuvered around Dreidger and scored. He has reached a career high in goals 38 games into the season after scoring 16 goals in 81 games in 2017-18. The 25-year-old has four goals in the last six games.

The Kings took a 2-0 lead when Danault chopped a rebound past Dreidger. Mikey Anderson had the initial shot out of midair that Dreidger saved, but Danault was able to get his stick on the rebound.

Kings goalie Cal Petersen makes a save against Kraken left wing Marcus Johansson (90) during the third period.

Seattle answered on the power play after Matt Roy was called for a double minor for high sticking. Johansson was stopped on a breakaway earlier in the period, but he scored his fourth of the season and third on the power play to pull Seattle to within 2-1. Mark Giordano’s shot from the point was tipped by Calle Jarnkrok, and Johansson finished off the goal.

The Kraken briefly thought they had pulled even late in the second period when Ryan Donato’s shot appeared to beat Andersen, momentarily setting off the ferry horn siren. A video review showed the shot clipped Andersen’s shoulder and the crossbar but stayed out.

Notes

Kings forward Samuel Fagemo and defenseman Jacob Moverare were recalled from the taxi squad, but both were scratched. Seattle forward Morgan Geekie missed his third straight game because of an upper-body injury. Seattle also scratched defensemen Will Borgen and Haydn Fleury. Seattle unveiled a new, splashy 4½-minute pregame intro featuring flashy lights, images of water portraited on the ice and a menacing eye projected on one end of the arena.