As the Kings strolled down to Seattle in an effort to tame the Kraken on Saturday, they sought to end their heretofore split road trip on a high note.
They were singing in falsetto on Thursday in Vancouver, where Alex Turcotte’s two goals and his no-look assist to Adrian Kempe in the opening 9:42 of the match staked the Kings and lights-out goaltender Darcy Kuemper to a three-score advantage en route to a 5-1 win.
Turcotte, the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft whose very career was in peril as a result of at least two severe concussions and other injuries, recorded his first ever two-goal game as well as his first career three-point effort.
“It’s been great, this year. It’s been everything I’ve dreamed of,” Turcotte told reporters. “To go through adversity early in my career, this definitely feels good, but I want to keep pushing. I’m not satisfied; I want to keep going and see where I can go from here.”
Between Turcotte’s goals, the Kings killed two penalties while allowing no shots, which was also critical to establishing early, decisive momentum. Setting aside a couple wobbly early efforts, the Kings’ penalty kill has been the best in the NHL from their fifth game of the season onward.
Even the power play got going in Vancouver, scoring for just the seventh time on the road this season (No. 31 of 32 teams). Kevin Fiala deposited what Coach Jim Hiller called “the biggest goal of the game” 66 seconds after the Canucks netted their sole goal.
On that tally, 31-year-old Joel Edmundson recorded his first career power-play point. Later in the contest, another gritty defender, Kyle Burroughs, received some significant time with the man advantage, another spoil of the Kings’ commanding victory.
A healthy Turcotte as well as acquisitions like Edmundson and Burroughs have aided the Kings’ cause, but no addition has been as significant as Kuemper. Once again removing those early hiccoughs in Toronto and Ottawa, Kuemper would become the league leader in both save percentage and goals-against average among goalies with six or more starts.
Kuemper was what the Kings salvaged from their failed foray with Pierre-Luc Dubois, who has regained his form in Washington, and the returns from the first half have exceeded any reasonable expectation. Kuemper went through a turbulent campaign last year between nagging injuries and personal exigencies during a campaign where he lost his net to Charlie Lindgren.
So far, however, he has looked more like the netminder that backstopped the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 2022.
“I just really love the group of guys. We all get along really well. It’s a special group and you can see that when we play,” Kuemper told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. “It’s just everybody all-in to the team game.”
The Kings played a team game, albeit without Kuemper due one of two lower-body injuries he’s sustained this season, in their prior meeting with Seattle, a 2-1 win at Crypto.com Arena on Nov. 23.
Forward Alex Laferriere sustained an upper-body injury against Edmonton on Monday and did not play in Vancouver. He should be considered doubtful against Seattle.
Seattle has been without veteran forward Jordan Eberle (pelvis) since Nov. 14. Jared McCann tops the team in scoring, as he has in each year of the franchise’s existence. Former Vegas center Chandler Stephenson has enlivened the defense-first Kraken’s attack while coveted prospect Shane Wright reified some of his promise with a stretch of 18 points in 22 games between Nov. 17 and Jan. 11.
Kings at Seattle
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
TV: KCAL (Ch. 9)