{"id":594256,"date":"2026-04-10T07:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T07:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594256\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T07:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T07:02:08","slug":"adrian-kempe-scores-twice-as-los-angeles-kings-top-vancouver-canucks-to-move-into-wild-card-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/594256\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian Kempe scores twice as Los Angeles Kings top Vancouver Canucks to move into wild-card spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Adrian Kempe<\/a> had two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> moved into a playoff spot with a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks<\/a> on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Joel Armia<\/a> and Trevor Moore<\/a> also scored, Anton Forsberg<\/a> made 24 saves, and the Kings\u2019 third straight win put them one point ahead of the Nashville Predators<\/a> for the second Western Conference wild card with a game in hand.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles came into the night already controlling its path to the postseason, and Nashville\u2019s 4-1 loss at Utah on Thursday created breathing room.<\/p>\n

Marcus Pettersson<\/a> scored and Nikita Tolopilo<\/a> made 22 saves for the Canucks, who have lost 10 of their past 11 games.<\/p>\n

The Kings started strong for the second consecutive game, with Kempe opening the scoring after 1:29 by getting to the slot and burying Brandt Clarke<\/a>\u2019s centering pass. After Pettersson tied it late in the first, Armia needed just 1:31 to put Los Angeles back up.<\/p>\n

Kempe netted his second goal with 28.2 seconds left in the middle period by redirecting Joel Edmundson<\/a>\u2019s slap shot for a 3-1 lead. Kempe has been the main offensive catalyst during the Kings\u2019 five-game point streak, collecting seven goals and two assists in that span with three multigoal efforts.<\/p>\n

The switch to Forsberg in net is also paying dividends, as he has won three straight starts while allowing four goals total.<\/p>\n

The Kings had played four straight games decided in overtime or a shootout, setting an NHL single-season record for games going past regulation along the way, but Moore ensured there would be no chance of extra hockey with his goal midway through the third period. <\/p>\n

Up Next<\/p>\n

Canucks: Visit San Jose on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Kings: Host Edmonton on Saturday.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n

Dan Greenspan, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Adrian Kempe had two goals, and the Los Angeles Kings moved into a playoff…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,82,55],"class_list":["post-594256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}