Andrei Kuzmenko gets 1st points for LA since trade, helps Kings pound streaking Hurricanes 7-2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Andrei Kuzmenko had a goal and an assist for his first points for Los Angeles since being acquired in a trade, and the Kings pummeled the Carolina Hurricanes 7-2 on Saturday.

Anze Kopitar, Tanner Jeannot, Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala also had a goal and an assist, Adrian Kempe and Trevor Moore scored, and the Kings won their fifth straight on home ice. David Rittich made 34 saves.

Dmitry Orlov and Mark Jankowski scored and Pyotr Kochetkov made 18 saves for the Hurricanes, who had their eight-game winning streak emphatically snapped.

Kuzmenko, who came to Los Angeles at the deadline on March 7 after a brief stint with the Philadelphia Flyers, had an assist on Kopitar’s power-play goal to make it 2-0 before finding the back of the net in the closing seconds of the first period.

The Kings hoped the mercurial Kuzmenko would lift their struggling power play and give Kopitar and Kempe another option to boost the scoring output from their top line. In Kuzmenko's eight games with the team, Los Angeles has four goals with the man-advantage, while Kopitar and Kempe have six goals and seven assists.

Takeaways

Hurricanes: Center Jordan Staal (lower body) and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (illness) did not play, leaving Carolina without its captain in Staal and top offensive catalyst from the blue line in Gostisbehere. The Hurricanes also lost forward Seth Jarvis to injury in the third period.

Kings: Los Angeles extended its home point streak to 13 games to tie the longest home run without a regulation defeat in franchise history.

Key moment

Kochetkov gave up goals in nearly identical fashion to start and end the first period, with Kempe and Kuzmenko each striking on wrist shots from the right circle off the rush.

Key stat

Kopitar got his 124th career power-play goal, passing Dave Taylor for third-most in Kings history.

Up Next

The Hurricanes visit Anaheim on Sunday, and the Kings host Boston on Sunday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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Andrei Kuzmenko gets 1st points for LA since trade, helps Kings pound streaking Hurricanes 7-2

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