Kings’ 3-game trip ends with another dud against Blackhawks
CHICAGO — The Kings, so good at home this season, are surely eager to get back after a dismal three-game road trip.
Spencer Knight made 41 saves in his first game with Chicago, helping the Blackhawks stifle the Kings, 5-1, on Monday night. It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Kings, who were outscored 15-4 on their trek through Dallas, St. Louis and Chicago.
Defensemen Alec Martinez and Ethan Del Mastro scored for the Blackhawks, who opened a three-game homestand by winning consecutive games for the first time since earning three straight wins from Dec. 15-19. Ilya Mikheyev and Ryan Donato each tallied a goal and assist and Andreas Athanasiou also scored.
Chicago (19-35-7) acquired Knight and a conditional first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from Florida on Saturday for defenseman Seth Jones and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft.
Anze Kopitar scored his 14th goal for the Kings (31-20-8), while Darcy Kuemper stopped 14 shots.
“Just, I think, a little bit of urgency,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty told NHL.com, when asked what is lacking. “Details. Giving up way too many chances against. It’s not us. We need to have guys more dialed into the D-zone, sticking to what the game plan is. Once we get away from that, we get dominated. If we don’t stick to it for 60 minutes, we’re not going to win games.”
The Kings challenged Knight early, recording 10 shots over the first 7:05 on the way to outshooting Chicago 17-7 in the first period.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring at 10:57 of the first period, grabbing an early lead on just their third shot of the night. Martinez sent a wrist shot from the right point through heavy traffic to beat Kuemper.
Kopitar tied the score just 42 seconds later, converting a chance off the rush. The Kings disrupted a Chicago scoring chance at the other end and pushed the puck through the neutral zone, with Kopitar taking a pass from Alex Turcotte and scoring on a wrist shot from the low left circle.
Mikheyev put Chicago ahead to stay with his 12th goal of the season just 46 seconds into the second period. After Kuemper denied Teuvo Teravainen in front of the net, Teravainen collected the rebound and sent a backhand pass to a waiting Mikheyev in the left circle.
Del Mastro made it 3-1 at 13:30 of the second, darting down the left boards after a faceoff win and sending a puck toward the net that deflected off the left skate of Kings defenseman Jacob Moverare and in for a goal.
“The second period, that was pretty obvious,” Kings coach Jim Hiller told reporters when asked when the game got away from his team. “The first and third, I think, were pretty clearly in our favor. The second period was in their favor, chance-wise and shots. So, yeah, give them credit.”
An Athanasiou goal 1:20 into the third extended the lead to 4-1. Colton Dach stole the puck from the Kings’ Jordan Spence behind the net and fed an open Athanasiou in the slot.
Donato capped the scoring with an empty-net goal with 90 seconds left, his 22nd goal of the season to extend his career-best. Teravainen, who earned two assists, extended his point streak to five games.
Kings forward Warren Foegele credited Knight.
“One hundred percent,” he told NHL.com. “I don’t know how many Grade A’s he stopped, but he stopped a lot, especially in the first there. It could have been a 2-0 lead for us. And even at the end there, we were pressing pretty hard. He’s a [heck] of a goalie, probably super emotional getting traded a couple days ago. You’ve got to give him credit when it’s due.”
Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen was impressed with Knight’s poise.
“He looked really good,” Sorensen told NHL.com. “Calm is probably the word, right? He just looked so composed back there, so tight down low. He made even some great puck plays. So, yeah, big part of it, obviously.”
UP NEXT
The Kings play host to St. Louis on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and again on Saturday at 5 p.m.