LOS ANGELES (AP) — Connor Bedard scored for the third straight game, Spencer Knight made 26 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Thursday night to open a two-game series.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
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Wyatt Kaiser scored his first goal of the season to give Chicago its second win in three games after a five-game losing streak. Frank Nazar had two assists.
Trevor Moore scored and Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves for Los Angeles. The Kings were held to two goals or less for the seventh time in nine games.
The Blackhawks scored twice in the second period. Bedard opened the scoring with his fifth power-play goal when he penetrated the penalty area and received a central pass from Zahr. Bedard has four goals and two assists in the past three games.
The Kings almost scored with 5.1 seconds left in the game, but the ball got tangled up in Knight’s foot and Phillip Danault couldn’t put it into an empty net, making it 2-0 at Kaiser.
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The Kings welcome back top guard Drew Doughty, who missed seven games with a foot injury. Doughty was injured on November 15 while taking a field goal against Ottawa.
Kings forward Warren Fogler also returned after missing three games with an upper-body injury. He found Moore midway through the third quarter, but it wasn’t enough to help Los Angeles avoid its sixth loss in eight games.
Los Angeles went 0-for-5 on the power play, including Bedard’s hook free throw with 1:26 left. The Kings failed to capitalize on their 6-on-4 advantage after trading Kuemper for an extra attacker. ___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl