Kings 2, Flyers 1
LOS ANGELES -- Left winger Dwight King and defenseman Drew Doughty scored goals and goaltender Jonathan Quick made 29 saves as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Los Angeles (25-11-2) won its fifth consecutive game and maintained its double-digit lead in the Pacific Division over the second-place Arizona Coyotes. The win was the Kings' first over Philadelphia in Los Angeles since Jan. 3, 2009.
Philadelphia (15-15-7) lost all three games of its California trip and is six points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The offense continued to sputter as the one-goal output marked the fifth time in six games the Flyers scored two goals or less.
The Flyers crept within 2-1 on center Brayden Schenn's eighth goal of the season on the power play at 7:50 of the third period with assists from right winger Wayne Simmonds and left winger Jakub Voracek. Schenn converted off a goal-mouth scramble after Simmonds kept alive a Voracek shot that was saved by Quick.
The Kings doubled their lead on defenseman Drew Doughty's seventh power play goal of the season at 17:16 of the first period. Center Anze Kopitar gained possession in the offensive zone and that gave defenseman Jake Muzzin the opportunity to feed Doughty for a one-timer that cleanly beat Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth. The assist was Muzzin's 100th NHL point.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 at 7:33 of the first period on left winger Dwight King's second goal of the season. Right winger Marian Gaborik gained possession of the puck at the Philadelphia blue line and worked a give-and-go with King that resulted in a wrist shot that beat Neuvrith.
Neuvirth (8-5-2) made 30 saves in his first start since a Dec. 15 win over Carolina.
NOTES: Philadelphia did not dress D Brandon Manning, RW Matt Read and C Vincent Lecavalier. ... Flyers D Michael Del Zotto returned to the lineup after a two-game absence because of a wrist injury. Del Zotto is the team leader in time on ice with an average of 23:54 per game and appeared in his 100th game in a Flyers sweater. ... The Flyers are wrapped up their 2015-16 holiday season trip, which featured only three games this year for the first time in 16 years. The Flyers return home to host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. ... Kings C Jeff Carter missed his fourth consecutive game because of an upper-body injury. Carter left the Dec. 26 game against Arizona after playing only 48 seconds and has not played since. ... Los Angeles did not dress D Derek Forbort and C Jordan Weal in addition to Carter. ... The Kings had a record of 10-3-1 (21 points) last month, the best December in team history for wins (previously nine, three times, the last in 2010) and points (previously 19; three times, the last in 2010).