NEW YORK — Alex Turcotte and Warren Foegele scored in the first period, and the Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers 5-1 on Saturday for their seventh win in eight games.
Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault also scored as the Kings handed the Rangers their ninth loss in 12 games. Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves and improved to 7-2-3.
Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar had two assists as the Kings chased Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in the second period. Shesterkin allowed five even-strength goals on 21 shots.
Turcotte opened the scoring at 7:05, whipping the puck past Shesterkin to finish a two-on-one break with Kempe. Foegele made it 2-0 at 15:06 of the first.
Byfield scored at 2:46 of the second, followed by Kempe at 4:40 and Danault at 5:04.
Shesterkin was pulled after Danault’s goal in favor of Jonathan Quick, a former Kings goaltender. Shesterkin fell to 10-11-1 this season, and Quick made 13 saves in relief.
Filip Chytil scored his sixth goal for New York.
The Rangers were without defenceman K’Andre Miller, who suffered an upper-body injury during Thursday’s win at Buffalo. Miller was replaced by Connor Mackey.
Fans at Madison Square Garden showered the Rangers with boos during the final seconds of the game after the team's dismal performance. It is the second time this week, as Rangers faithful booed the team off the ice after Monday's 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Takeaways
Rangers: Fell to 7-8-1 at home. They lost only 11 times in 41 games last season at Madison Square Garden.
Kings: Los Angeles is 7-2-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. The Kings have allowed two goals or less in seven of their last eight games.
Key moment
Turcotte’s third goal of the season set the tone for the afternoon as the Kings dominated the Rangers.
Key stat
Kopitar leads the Kings with 34 points, including eight goals. The 37-year-old centre is in his 19th season with Los Angeles.
Up next
The Kings visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. The Rangers visit the St. Louis Blues on Sunday for the opener of a three-game trip.
-With files from Sportsnet
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.