LOS ANGELES — Two teams headed in opposite directions in the standings met in a lopsided matchup as the Kings bested the Boston Bruins 7-2 Sunday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
With both teams on the second halves of back-to-backs, early play was marked by turnovers and odd-man rushes before the Kings, coming off a 7-2 win over Carolina, put another touchdown on Boston’s net in just 23 shots.
The Bruins opened the scoring just seconds off the opening faceoff, with a turnover at the blueline making its way to Elias Lindholm, who went forehand to backhand to tuck it past goalie Darcy Kuemper.
Kings Captain Anže Kopitar answered just 2:14 later, sprung by a tape-to-tape pass from Adrian Kempe, freezing Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman for his 18th tally of the season.
Warren Foegele sent the Kings to the first intermission up 2-1 on his 100th career goal, a backdoor tap-in at 19:31 off the hard work behind the net of Phillip Danault. Trevor Lewis had the secondary assist in his first game since the March 5 shootout loss to the Blues. Lewis entered the lineup for Trevor Moore, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Play tightened up and grew more physical in the second period, with even the netminders getting into it. Officials stepped in to stop a tilt between Kuemper and Swayman at center ice.
Morgan Geekie tied the game in the second on his 25th goal of the season after Pavel Zacha picked off the puck and held it in the zone. It would be the last to get past Kuemper.
The Kings reclaimed the lead at 3-2 with Drew Doughty driving home a rebound kicked by Swayman to the top of the circle. It is his third goal since returning from injury.
The second period ended with the Kings up 4-2 on the second goal in as many nights from Adrei Kuzmenko, who is heating up since being acquired from the Flyers at the trade deadline.
Kevin Fiala found Quinton Byfield in stride as he snuck past the Bruins defense and snapped a wrister past Swayman for his 19th of the season, just one short of a career-high.
Tanner Jeannot and Samuel Helenius took the Kings’ scoring to 7 for the second night in a row.
The win moved the Kings into second in the Pacific Division, tied at 87 points with the Edmonton Oilers. With the league’s best record at home, pulling ahead of the Oilers could be a key factor in winning a possible fourth consecutive first-round matchup between the teams.
The Kings can claim the number two spot (outright) with a win over another Eastern Conference team fighting for a wildcard spot when they host the New York Rangers Tuesday night.
Boston’s loss puts them 6 points out of the last wildcard in the East with just ten games remaining.