By Canadian Press

Kempe has two assists to help Los Angeles Kings to 3-2 win over Ottawa Senators

Nov 2, 2023 | 7:58 PM

OTTAWA — The Los Angeles Kings survived a late rally by the Ottawa Senators to leave the nation’s capital with a 3-2 win on Thursday night.

The Kings (6-2-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Senators (4-5-0) fought back to make it a one-goal deficit despite losing Mark Kastelic and Ridly Greig to injuries early in the game.

The Kings managed to hold off the Senators third-period push and Anze Kopitar’s goal midway through the second period stood as the winner. 

Carl Grundstrom and Philip Danault also scored for the Kings, who have won both games so far on their four-game road trip.

Cam Talbot, who spent last season in Ottawa, started in net for Los Angeles. Former Kings goalie Joonas Korpisalo got the nod for the Senators. 

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Talbot won bragging rights on this night making 24 saves, while Korpisalo was the busier of the two stopping 36 shots.

Trailing 3-1 to start the third period, the Senators made it a one-goal game when Norris tipped a Jacob Bernard-Docker shot early in the period.

Already down one centre, the Senators found themselves without Mark Kastelic just three minutes into the second period after he lost an edge and went down hard to the ice. He was unable to put any weight on his right leg.

Two minutes later, the Kings took a 2-0 lead when Adrian Kempe picked up the puck at his own blue line, came down the wing and fed Grundstrom, who beat Korpisalo.

Kopitar was the beneficiary of an Andreas Englund rebound for his fifth goal of the season. The Senators got on the board with a late Kubalik power-play goal to make it 3-1 after 40 minutes.

The Kings opened the scoring with a power-play goal three minutes in when Danault tallied from in close.

The Senators lost Greig after he appeared to jam his right leg early in the period. He did not return.

NOTABLES

It was the 300th career NHL game on the bench for Senators coach D.J. Smith. It was the 800th career game for Ottawa defenceman Travis Hamonic.

The Senators remain without three of their regular defencemen: Artem Zub (head), Thomas Chabot (hand) and Erik Brannstrom (concussion). The Kings scratched Tobias Bjornfot and Jaret Anderson-Dolan. 

UP NEXT: The Senators will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Kings head to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023. 

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press