Crouse scores, leaves with injury as Coyotes beat Kings
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawson Crouse experienced it all against the Los Angeles Kings.
Crouse scored the go-ahead goal before a scary fall that forced him to leave the game, and the Arizona Coyotes held on to beat the Kings 3-2 on Saturday.
Phil Kessel and Christian Fischer also scored for the Coyotes, who have won five of seven, including a 3-0 home victory over the Kings on Monday. Antti Raanta made 43 saves for Arizona, which was outshot 45-18.
Anze Kopitar and Nikolai Prokhorkin scored for the Kings, whose five-game home winning streak ended. Jonathan Quick stopped 16 shots.
Crouse’s goal off a rebound in the second period put Arizona ahead 2-1. He left the game in the third period after he fell and hit his head awkwardly into the boards. After being checked by a trainer, he was helped off the ice, and he walked to the locker room.
“I just talked to him,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “He didn’t think he was out, but I thought he might have been out. He was a little woozy right now, so we’ll see.”
Kessel opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period. The Coyotes got through the neutral zone quickly, and he scored on a give-and-go play, assisted by Keller and Derek Stepan.
Kopitar tied it at 1-1 in the second period on the power play, his team-best ninth goal of the season.
“When you’re down 1-0 against this team, it’s tough,” Kings center Blake Lizette said. “Their start and the lack of our start was the difference.”
Crouse scored at 15:29 of the second period and 27 seconds later, Clayton Keller was whistled for a hooking penalty. But the Kings came up empty on that power-play opportunity.
Fischer’s empty-netter made it 3-1 with 2:10 left in the game, but Prokhorkin responded quickly with the game’s final goal.
Fischer had a key block in the final minutes.
“I thought we did a good job starting out with our game and our game plan,” Fischer said. “It’s different playing at 1 p.m. Ice wasn’t that great. A lot of factors. I thought we held our own. We knew when we were turning the puck over that that’s how they were creating their offense. I thought we mixed it up in the third.”
HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER
Saturday was Hockey Fights Cancer day, and Jacob Brown was honored before the game in the ceremonial first puck drop. The 12-year-old got to meet Drew Doughty and the Kings through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Jacob is in remission after a battle with leukemia and was in full hockey gear. Doughty dropped the puck, and Jacob won the friendly draw against Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Jacob, an Alabama native and hockey player, signed a two-day contract with the Kings. The Hockey Fights Cancer auction raised over $28,000.
NOTES
Kings C Kopitar extended his team lead in points to 24. ... Coyotes G Darcy Kuemper, a former King, didn’t play Saturday but is expected to start against Edmonton on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday in a matchup of the Pacific Division’s top teams.
Kings: Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday.
