LOS ANGELES -- In winger Trevor Lewis’ 1,000 career game, the Los Angeles Kings came out on top over the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1.
Lewis, who spent the bulk of his career as a King, bounced around between the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets before coming back to Los Angeles wearing the 61 jersey instead of 22 when he won two Stanley Cups.
“It was really exciting,” Lewis said. “All the guys [wore] the hats in warm-ups and stuff like that, it was pretty awesome… I couldn’t do it with a better organization and a better bunch of guys. I’ve been through a lot with trainers and management and some guys in here. To do it in a Kings' sweater, very special.”
The game-winning goal came with just under six minutes to go from winger Adrian Kempe. Linemate Alex Turcotte started the break before making a great play and dropping it back for Kempe who struck it past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. Head coach Jim Hiller briefly talked about how Kempe was the perfect player for who he would want to take that shot.
“In that spot, he ’s the guy you want shooting. There’s no question. [Alex Turcotte] just made such a good play,” Hiller said.
The Kings' first goal would come in the middle stages of the first period. With just about 12 minutes left, defenseman Mikey Anderson ripped a screened shot off an offensive zone face-off. The shot buzzed by Vasilevskiy’s glove and tied the game at one.
Anderson had a great night which was capped with over 11 minutes of ice time in the third period. This was partially due to a scary fall from defender Joel Edmundson, who returned late in the matchup. Anderson has been crucial to the Kings defensive core with Drew Doughty out with an ankle injury and has stepped up to the plate so far this season.
“We’ve talked a lot about where [Anderson’s] game has gone… [Anderson] was elite,” Hiller said.
The Lightning started it off only 70 seconds into the game. Defenseman Victor Hedman let a shot fly from the point, which tipped off Anderson’s stick and into the top of the net. Tampa Bay was glad to have the two-way defender back as he left Tampa Bay’s last game against the San Jose Sharks early due to a puck to the head.
It was a fantastic performance from Los Angeles goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who finished with 33 saves on 34 shots — the only one going in an own goal on a tip in front. Coming into the game, the Lightning led the league in goals per game at 3.86 due to their high-intensity offensive play, but it seemed that Kuemper was ready for the challenge with a spectacular game. When asked if Kuemper stole the game for the team, Hiller’s response was rather simple.
“Of course. Flat out, I thought it was probably our most lopsided game, frankly, it wasn’t a great game for us… So, yeah [Kuemper] stole it.”
The Kings, who are riding a four game win streak and nine game home win streak, will invite the Flames to town on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.