McMichael, Mantha each have goal, assist for Washington, which is held to 15 shots
LOS ANGELES; On Wednesday, the Washington Capitals secured a 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena, with Charlie Lindgren making 38 saves.
In the third period, Washington hung on with Lindgren’s help, facing a 15-3 shot disadvantage. Lindgren has secured victories in five of his last six starts.
Connor McMichael and Anthony Mantha contributed with a goal and an assist each, while Aliaksei Protas provided two assists for the Capitals (11-6-2). The team had lost their previous two games.
The Kings (13-4-3), who had won five consecutive games, saw Arthur Kaliyev score. They dominated the last 11 shots on goal in the game, and Cam Talbot made 13 saves.
It was their second regulation loss in the past 15 games (11-2-2).
At 11:10 of the third period, Anze Kopitar believed he had equalized the score at 2-2 for Los Angeles. However, Washington coach Spencer Carbery successfully challenged that Kopitar had entered the zone offside.
At 9:04 of the first period, Kaliyev provided the Kings with a 1-0 lead. He knocked in a loose puck from just outside the crease after Andreas Englund’s shot went wide and bounced back off the boards.
At 12:12, Mantha leveled the score at 1-1. He scored into an open net after Talbot came out to cut off the angle for McMichael’s pass during a 2-on-1 break.
At 18:31 of the second period, McMichael scored the decisive goal, batting in an airborne puck from close range on the rebound of a Mantha shot, securing the 2-1 final score.
