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 Center Jeff Carter's goal late in the third period was the
difference, and the Kings captured their fifth consecutive victory
with a 3-2 decision over the Lightning at Staples Center on Monday
night.
"Killing penalties was the big turning point in the game," said
Sutter, whose club gave up only one power-play goal in 10 chances
over the past five contests. "I think we've managed to kill
penalties right through and not taken many. I think the last game
was a big kill, and tonight to start the third was a big kill, too.
"Goals against is important. If you can't be in the top 10 in the
league, you're not going to make the playoffs."
Centers Jordan Nolan and Anze Kopitar added goals for the Kings, who
swept the two-game season series from the Lightning, the NHL's
highest-scoring squad. Los Angeles left winger Dwight King recorded
two assists and extended his career-best points streak to four
games.
Los Angeles (26-18-12) is on its longest winning streak since a
six-game run Oct. 12-26. The Kings' current surge started with a 4-2
decision over the Lightning on Feb. 7 at Tampa.
"We're trying to get our game together and make a playoff push,"
said Nolan, who scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period.
Los Angeles trails the fourth-place San Jose Sharks by two points
and is only three back of the second-place Vancouver Canucks in the
Pacific Division.
The Lightning (35-18-6) were coming off a 5-2 win over the Sharks on
Sunday, but they lost for the third time in four games. Center Tyler
Johnson's goal with 37 seconds left cut the deficit to one, but the
Kings held on.
The toll of facing the Sharks and Kings on consecutive nights might
have been too much to bear for Tampa Bay.
"They made some strong plays; they're a big, strong team," Tampa Bay
coach Jon Cooper said. "I think we got a little bit tired at the
end, which is understandable. We're playing our sixth period of
hockey in less than 24 hours against some good, strong, heavy
Western teams. We hung in there. I thought it was a game we could
get points out of."
Kings goalie Jonathan Quick stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced,
while Lightning rookie netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.
Los Angeles didn't lead until 3:36 of the third period. Nolan took a
pass from King, juked defenseman Luke Witkowski and delivered with a
top-shelf goal, putting the home team on top 2-1. It was Nolan's
fourth goal of the season.
Carter's goal followed an outstanding pass from defenseman Drew
Doughty with 6:01 remaining. Carter, the Kings' leading scorer, has
16 goals and 43 points on the season.
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"They wait for you to make those mistakes, and then they capitalize
on them," Johnson said. "That's what they did. I thought we played a
pretty good game. It's just unfortunate that the mistakes we did
make, they capitalized on."
The Lightning struck first, taking a 1-0 lead on defenseman Nikita
Nesterov's first NHL goal. Nesterov, a fifth-round pick in the 2011
amateur draft by Tampa Bay, converted by gathering a loose puck
after a shot by left winger Ondrej Palat and ripping a blast past
Quick at 12:11 of the first period.
Kopitar tied the score early in the second period. Center Trevor
Lewis connected with the streaking Kings center as he blew past two
Lightning defenders, and Kopitar drilled a winner past Vasilevskiy
at 7:04. Kopitar, who is second on the Kings with 42 points, scored
his first goal since Jan. 17.
NOTES: Tampa Bay D Matt Carle engaged in light drills for the first
time in the past month at the club's Monday morning skate, but he
continues to recover from a torn abductor muscle. Carle has missed
13 games since sustaining the injury Jan. 15 against the Edmonton
Oilers. He isn't expected to return before March. ... The Kings held
a moment of silence for former NHL D Steve Montador, who died
Sunday. ... Lightning D Mark Barberio and RW J.T. Brown were
scratched, while D Alec Martinez, C Andy Andreoff and D Derek
Forbort were unavailable for the Kings. ... Tampa Bay visits the
Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday. ... Los Angeles will embark on a
two-game swing at the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday and at the San
Jose Sharks on Saturday. ... The game drew an announced crowd of
18,230.
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