Avalanche defeat Kings, extend point streak to 11

LOS ANGELES --The Colorado Avalanche extended their point streak to 11 games with a 4-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, and Darcy Kuemper made 40 saves for the Avalanche (27-8-3), who are 10-0-1 since the holiday break and 16-1-2 since Dec. 2.
"I thought we did a good job, obviously, of doing what we had to do to defend," Kuemper said. "You know, we're used to having the puck for long stretches of time, and that wasn't really the case tonight. But we found a way to win in a different style, and that's really important."

Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings (20-16-5), who have been outscored 16-7 during a three-game losing streak. Jonathan Quick allowed three goals on 26 shots.
"Well, we played with them," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. "I think last year at the end of the year, it wasn't a real game when we played against them, but we didn't have a lot of the pieces that we have right now. It was a competitive night, it was a hard night. I really believe we can play with any team in the League."
Kings center Quinton Byfield, the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, had three shots on goal and was 2-for-5 on face-offs in 15:00 of ice time in his season debut
The 19-year-old was expected to start this season with the Kings before fracturing his ankle in a preseason game Oct. 5.
"I think I was definitely a lot more comfortable," Byfield said. "Last year, it was still my first pro year, and it was kind of weird playing with all the people you grew up watching almost, you know, playing against all those guys. Now I just got a feeling I know I can play with them and contribute a little bit."
Rantanen gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 9:43 of the first period. He got to the edge of the crease and redirected in Nathan MacKinnon's shot from the high slot at the end of a 1:13 shift for the first power-play unit.
Los Angeles is 6-for-11 on the penalty kill in its past four games.
"I don't have an explanation. Look, we would have addressed it a long time ago," McLellan said. "You take today's penalty kill, we win the face-off again. It's on our tape and we don't get the clear. And you don't get the clear, now you're tired."
Kiefer Sherwood made it 2-0 at 3:06 of the second period, scoring with a turnaround slap shot following a giveaway by Brendan Lemieux. It was his first goal since March 26, 2019, when he was a rookie for the Anaheim Ducks.

Kopitar cut it to 2-1 at 8:58, shooting into an open net after Kuemper tried to take away the angle from Alex Iafallo.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:11 of the third period when he exited the penalty box, received a stretch pass from Logan O'Connor and beat Quick blocker side on a breakaway.
"I think [O'Connor] didn't see me at first, and then he was about to clear it, and then he kind of like slowed his motion down," Aube-Kubel said. "I think that's what I saw from the ice. That's why the pass wasn't like really sharp. … I was thinking about my move, but then didn't get time to do my move. I just shot it."
Devon Toews scored into an empty net at 18:25 for the 4-1 final.
"Pretty happy that we're able to keep carving points through games like this," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "It says a lot about our group."
NOTES:The Avalanche, who were coming off a 2-0 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, are 4-0-1 in the second game of a back-to-back. … Colorado is 20-0-2 when scoring first. … Kings forward Dustin Brown played his 1,270th game, passing Brett Hull for seventh among United States-born players in NHL history.