Goaltender Jack Campbell stops 41 shots in second start; LA King beats Vegas, 4-1
LAS VEGAS (AP) Anze Kopitar scored his 27th goal of the season, Jack Campbell made 41 saves in his second career start and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 on Tuesday night.
It was the Kings' second victory over the Western Conference leaders in two nights.
Campbell was making his first NHL start since the 2013-14 season, when he played for the Dallas Stars. He made one appearance for Los Angeles last season.
Kyle Clifford, Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings, who rank second in the league with 20 road wins. Tampa Bay has 22.
Maxime Lagace, who stopped 26 shots for the Golden Knights, was making his first start since Dec. 9, when he won in Dallas. William Karlsson scored the Vegas goal.
Vegas, which had scored on the power play in 14 of its last 17 games, was 0 for 4 with the man advantage. The Golden Knights dropped to 14-7 following a loss.
It what has become a familiar sequence for the Golden Knights' top line, Reilly Smith fed Jonathan Marchessault, who fed Karlsson, who gave Vegas a 1-0 lead. Karlsson got his 34th goal of the season, while Marchessault and Smith picked up their 41st and 37th assists, respectively.
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Vegas center Ryan Carpenter committed a costly turnover with a terrible pass in the offensive zone, directly in front of the net, where Clifford capitalized and beat Lagace to tie the game at 1.
Midway through the second period, Toffoli skated past Smith and took the puck with him, then beat Lagace above his blocker to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.
Kopitar, who tied Monday's matchup with 11 seconds left in the third, extended the margin to 3-1 when he skated by Vegas defenseman Luca Sbisa and drew Lagace out of the net before swiftly moving to the side and putting the puck in.
Carter finished the scoring on a power-play goal with less than two minutes remaining.
NOTES: After 11 consecutive starts, No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury took the night off for Vegas after losing in Los Angeles on Monday. ... The crowd of 18,328 was the second-largest for a Golden Knights home game. ... Sbisa is five games shy of 500. ... Kopitar has points in each of the last three games.
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Kings: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
