LOS ANGELES – Recent Four Nations Tournament champion Drew Doughty put up three points in the Los Angeles Kings’ 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night.
With under four minutes left in the second period, winger Alex Laferriere caught a full ice lofted pass from Doughty and buried a shot on the breakaway to put the Kings up 3-2 late in the second period.
Just earlier, winger Kevin Fiala scored a power-play goal for the Kings. Sitting at the right faceoff dot, Fiala received a pass from captain center Anze Kopitar and struck a quick shot just under Ingram's glove. Doughty also registered a secondary assist on the goal, marking his second point of the night.
Doughty’s first point of the night would be the opening goal for Los Angeles. On a pass from winger Kevin Fiala, Doughty one-timed a shot from the point, which flew past the glove of Ingram. This was Doughty’s first goal so far this season.
The game-winning goal, though, would come in the middle of the third period from winger Trevor Lewis, which put the Kings up 4-2. On a shot from the point from defender Jordan Spence, Lewis backhanded a rebound home from the hashes that went straight in between the legs of Utah goalie Connor Ingram.
Defender Mikey Anderson would hit the empty net to finish the game off 5-3.
Utah center Barrett Hayton had a great game and truly gave Los Angeles a run for their money. Hayton scored each of Utah’s three goals, each in a similar fashion to each other. The goal to secure his hat trick would be from a rebound to bring the game back within one with nine minutes to play in the third period.
To start the second period, Utah clicked on the power play to make the score 2-1. In a brilliant passing series, winger Clayton Keller hit winger Nick Schmaltz, who drilled a one-timer off the pad of Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper which popped right to Hayton on the back side for a tap-in goal.
To start the scoring in the game, Schmaltz backhanded a weak shot toward the front of the cage, which was tipped in by Hayton.
Kuemper finished the game with 25 saves on 28 shots, while Ingram had 21 saves on 25 shots.
The Kings will have their Skate for LA Strong charity game on Sunday, with many popular figures in the hockey world, as well as other actors, singers and more coming out to support the cause.
“We like to view hockey and sports as an opportunity to bring people together,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’ve always made it one of our values that if we can make a difference in the lives of the people that are in the communities in which we serve and have franchises, we should be doing that, and that’s what we try to do.”
Los Angeles’ next game will be on Monday at 7:30 p.m. against the Las Vegas Golden Knights.