After clinching a Stanley Cup playoff spot, the Los Angeles Kings will look to track down the top wild-card seed in the Western Conference when they face the host Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Quinton Byfield scored twice, while Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore each scored and added an assist as the visiting Kings (35-26-19, 89 points) topped the Seattle Kraken 5-3 on Monday night for their fifth straight win. Los Angeles also has points in seven straight (6-0-1).
“It’s awesome,” Moore said. “It was dicey there for a while, but I’m really proud of our group for sticking together, believing in ourselves and going on this run.”
Adrian Kempe also scored while Anton Forsberg made 28 saves as Los Angeles defeated Seattle for the first time this season (1-2-1).
With the win, the Kings moved one point back of the Utah Mammoth for the first wild-card seed. Both teams have a pair of regular-season games remaining. Los Angeles has qualified for the fifth straight postseason after missing the playoffs for three years.
Byfield admitted the group was motivated to give captain Anze Kopitar a final playoff run.
“That’s what it’s about,” Byfield said. “You want to do it for one another, but at the beginning of the year, we talked about it, we wanted to give Kopi another shot for what he’s done for the organization. It’s the least we could do.”
Tuesday is the fourth and final game between the Pacific Division rivals, with the Los Angeles Kings looking to sweep the season series.
The two teams met most recently last Thursday, with the host Kings topping the Canucks 4-1.
Vancouver (24-48-8, 56 points), at the bottom of the league standings, has won back-to-back games following a 4-3 overtime win against the host Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
Curtis Douglas, Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser scored as the Canucks jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Vancouver needed Marco Rossi’s power-play goal with 10 seconds remaining in overtime to secure two points.
Goaltender Nikita Tolopilo made 24 saves.
“Easily could have not played with the intensity or urgency we’ve seen the last three or four games, but they keep pushing, and they’re gelling together,” said Vancouver coach Adam Foote. “Give them a lot of credit, they’ve really connected as a group.”
Douglas, playing in his 41st career game, tied it 1-1 at 10:49 of the first period for his first NHL goal.
“It was pretty cool having everyone so excited. It was almost like they scored,” Douglas said of his teammates. “I have chills right now just talking about it. I don’t want to get emotional, but it was really, really special, I think, just coming down the line and seeing all the smiles and people freaking out because they’ve been there the whole time, and cheering me on and making sure I didn’t get down because I hadn’t scored yet.”
Tuesday is the final home game for the Canucks, who wrap up the season in Edmonton on Thursday.
