Kings rebound for 3-2 road win in Washington

A night after laying an egg in Raleigh, the Los Angeles Kings rebounded with a solid 3-2 win over the Capitals in Washington, DC on Sunday night.

Garret Sparks made 33 saves for the Kings in the win.

Sparks was called up from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League when Cal Petersen was placed on NHL COVID19 protocol.

“It’s been a long road back here,” Sparks said.

“I think that’s the cool part about it. I got to step into a situation where they needed me. It was cool. It was fun.”

LA was coming off a lackluster loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

“For the group to play hard and come back with [Sparks] and for him, and he in turn to play as well as he did tonight, it’s a chapter in a book, really, when you think about it,” Kings head coach Todd McLellan said. “Guys were really happy for him.”

Connor McMichael and Justin Schultz were the Caps strikers in the first and second periods, respectively, for a 2-0 lead for Washington.

The Caps dropped to 18-6-7.

“It’s a lousy feeling when you lose a game here,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “You feel like you’re doing the right things and you’re in control, and we didn’t get it done, so that’s frustrating about the game.”

Blake Lizotte hit for a goal in the middle frame to get LA on the board.

“I don’t know if it turned the tide, but it certainly at the end of a period like that, it puts them on the board, it gets them some energy and some life and a possibility,” Laviolette said. “I don’t like the way it happened. We just let our guard down, so we needed to do better than that.”

The Kings improved to 14-11-5.

“It was just crazy to be on NHL ice again and playing against the greatest goal-scorer of all time and having an answer,” Sparks said.

Adrian Kempe and Christian Wolanin scored for the Kings in the third period to get LA the win.