Kings defeat Kraken, 3-1

In Seattle, the Los Angeles Kings extended their current winning streak to four with a 3-1 win over the Kraken on Saturday.“It was a battle, a fight for ice both ways,” Los Angeles head coach Todd McLellan said. “They checked hard, they closed the gaps. They took space away and won some races to the pucks. We did the same thing. Very tight game, and then both goaltenders made some good saves when they had to.”

Adrian Kempe scored off the power-play in the opening frame to give LA a 1-0 lead.

“I think Adrian has matured, not physically, but just the way he understands the game better,” McLellan said of Kempe. “He anticipates things better, he’s in the right spot. His shot’s improved. He works as hard away from the puck and checking as he does offensively, and as a result he’s getting a lot of chances. He’s got a lot of skill and talent. So we’re really happy for him.”

Cal Petersen made 17 saves in the Kings win.

LA improved 20-13-3.

After the Kings took a 2-0 lead on Philip Danault’s first goal of the game, Marcus Johansson to cut the lead in half.

“They got to the inside at our net a little bit more than we did,” Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. “It’s one of those games and it’s [going to] be a game that’s in the trenches. We needed it to be a little bit more consistent through our lineup, in our heaviness, on some of the looks, and come up with an extra possession along the way. That’s the bottom line. Without a real free-flowing game there’s [going to] be a lot of battles down low.”

Seattle fell to 10-23-4.

Danault scored his double into an empty-net for the 3-1 final.

“I think it was a great game, to be honest,” Danault said. “It caught us off guard a little bit, they play very hard, and they play the right way, so they were a hard, tough team to play today. I thought we battled well.”

Chris Driedger made 19 saves in the Kraken loss.

“It’s just really frustrating in our situation right now,” Driedger said. “Trying to get a win. My job is to get wins and let in less goals than the other guy. I haven’t been able to do that in the last two matches. I definitely think my game could have been better. You can never be satisfied, especially at a time like this. … It’s completely unacceptable to drop nine in a row.”