Adrian Kempe scores twice as Kings edge Lightning to snap 4-game skid

TAMPA, Fla. — The goal-starved Kings ended their three-game trip on a high note.

Adrian Kempe scored twice in the second period, and the Kings rallied from a one-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, on Thursday night.

Anton Forsberg, in goal for the second night in a row, stopped 31 shots to help the Kings (15-10-9) snap a four-game skid (0-2-2) and get just their third win in the past nine games (3-4-2). They improved to 11-4-5 on the road this season.

“I felt great. I thought we played really well,” Forsberg told NHL.com. “I felt like the team had good energy. It was a hard-fought win from start to finish. We battled hard and we got out with two points, which is huge for this group.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the Lightning and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, following a seven-game absence, finished with 18 saves. Tampa Bay (18-13-3) has lost three straight (0-2-1) and seven of its last nine (2-6-1).

The Lightning outshot the Kings 13-3 in the third period, but they couldn’t get the tying goal past Forsberg.

The game’s first penalty, a cross-check against Kempe, led to the first goal. Bjorkstrand scored the power-play goal with 7:06 remaining in the first period, knocking in a rebound through Forsberg’s pads after the goalie stopped his initial attempt.

Forsberg kept it 1-0 with a spectacular, sliding glove save on Dominic James’ shot in the final seconds of the opening frame.

Kempe then scored twice 10½ minutes apart in the second to put the Kings ahead. First, he beat Vasilevskiy with a long-distance wrist shot from between the circles at 5:21 to tie it.

“I had lots of room in the neutral zone. I just tried to skate it in the O-zone and then their ‘D’ kind of just backed off, so I just tried to find the spot between his legs to shoot in,” Kempe told NHL.com. “It just happens off instinct. You don’t try to go in and shoot through guys all the time. I know it’s hard for the goalie when you do that. That was something I was aiming for.”

Then, he scored for a 2-1 lead with 4:02 left in the second period. He intercepted a pass from Lightning forward Pontus Holmberg in the Kings’ defensive zone, skated down the ice and scored on a short breakaway with a backhand deke around Vasilevskiy’s left pad for his team-leading 13th goal of the season.

“I was fresh. Felt good, legs felt good. Just tried to beat them up the ice,” Kempe told NHL.com. “Faked the goalie a little bit and go around him. It worked.”

Forsberg made another amazing save just over a minute into the third period when he reached back and snatched a puck that was trickling toward the goal line after a shot from Tampa Bay forward Zemgus Girgensons squeaked through his left arm.

Vasilevskiy stopped the Kings’ Trevor Moore three times on good chances over the course of the night.

The Lightning got a power play at 1:05 with Vasilevskiy on the bench for an extra skater, but the Kings held on in the 6-on-4 penalty kill to secure the win.

“It was a tough back-to-back. Anytime you go Tampa-Florida or Florida-Tampa … they’re two of the elite teams in the league,” Kings coach Jim Hiller told NHL.com. “We spent a lot of energy last night in Florida trying to battle back, so I didn’t think we had quite the same legs, but our will was there and I think that’s really what carried the day for us.”

Tampa Bay played without its top point producer (late scratch Nikita Kucherov) and goal-scorer (Brandon Hagel), but defenseman Ryan McDonagh returned.

UP NEXT

The Kings host Columbus on Monday night to open a three-game homestand.