Doughty, Fiala get a goal and 2 assists each, Kings handle struggling Canucks 5-1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala each had a goal and two assists and the Los Angeles Kings snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Anze Kopitar and Trevor Moore both had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Rookie Brandt Clarke scored his second career goal while Quinton Byfield also had two assists.
Brock Boeser scored on the power play for the Canucks, who have lost two in a row and six of their last seven (1-5-1) but continue to lead the Western Conference.
Kings’ goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 22 shots while Thatcher Demko made 15 saves for Vancouver.
The Canucks opened the third period when Boeser rifled home a pass from J.T. Miller for his 35th of the season at 2:55, making the score 2-1. It was Vancouver’s third power-play goal in 38 attempts over 12 games.
The Kings restored their two-goal lead just 1:32 later on their own power play. Kopitar took a long shot from just inside the blue line that Fiala slapped into the empty corner of the net from behind the goal line.
Clarke made it 4-1 at 12:31 and Moore made it 5-1 on a breakaway with a shot that trickled in off Demko’s pad at 15:38.
The Kings went ahead 2-0 early in the second on a heads-up play by Byfield. He took a pass from Doughty, skated behind the Canucks goal, then passed to an open Kopitar, who beat Demko with a high shot at 5:14.
Doughty gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a slap shot through traffic that beat Demko on the stick side at 13:19 of the first period.
Kings leading scorer Adrian Kempe missed his second straight game and returned to L.A. to evaluate the wrist he injured Monday in Edmonton.
UP NEXT
Kings: Host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Canucks: Play the Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl