Kings 5, Capitals 2
Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist for his first multi-point effort of the season and Jonathan Bernier turned aside 20 shots as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Washington Capitals for the fifth straight time with a 5-2 home triumph on Monday.
Anze Kopitar, Jarret Stoll and defensemen Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty also scored and Trent Hunter notched a pair of assists for Los Angeles. The Kings improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 games and pulled to within one point of Pacific Division-leading San Jose.
Entering the game with a league-low 88 goals, Los Angeles scored five goals in a contest for fifth time this season.
After Clifford cleaned up a rebound to tie the game midway through the first period, the Kings took advantage of Brooks Laich's turnover as Kopitar beat Tomas Vokoun with 34 seconds left in the session.
Johnson doubled the Kings' lead 3:01 into the second period after accepting Clifford's feed and wristing a shot past Vokoun to cap a 3-on-1 break. Stoll's tap-in with 3:33 remaining in the session effectively put this one on ice.
The offense was more than enough for Bernier, who notched his first win since Nov. 22.
Marcus Johansson scored twice for Washington, which has dropped two in a row after a four-game winning streak.