L.A. eliminated from playoff contention
Loss to Avalanche makes it official as Kings lose Brown for remainder of season.
COLORADO 3 KINGS 2
Mikko Rantanen scored his 30th goal of the season, Cale Makar had a goal and an assist and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Kings 3-2 on Friday night.
Tyson Jost also scored, Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves and the Avalanche remained four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the West Division.
Brendan Lemieux and Gabriel Vilardi scored for Los Angeles. Cal Petersen made 34 saves as the Kings were eliminated from playoff contention.
Despite falling behind early on Lemieux’s fourth
goal 2:12 into the game, Colorado soon showed why it came in tied with Pittsburgh for the highest-scoring offense in hockey at 3.49 goals per game despite not having top center Nathan MacKinnon available because of a lower-body injury.
Rantanen tied it 1-1 on the power play at 5:49. It was
Rantanen’s 30th goal of the season in 48 games to become the third Avalanche player to score 30 goals in fewer than 50 games.
Vilardi got the Kings back to 3-2 with 2:34 remaining in the third but could not come up with the tying goal.
The Avalanche finished with five defensemen after
Patrik Nemeth was hurt in the second period and did not return.
Brown’s season ends
The Kings announced before the game that Dustin Brown will be out for the remainder of the season because of an upper-body injury sustained earlier in the year and that he will “continue to undergo treatment and rehabilitation.”
Brown leads the Kings with 17 goals, including a team-best nine power-play goals, in 49 games.