Kuemper, Coyotes beat Kings 4-0 to stay in playoff chase

<p>LOS ANGELES &mdash; Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his second shutout of the season, nd the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 on Saturday night.</p>
<p>John Hayden, Lawson Crouse and Jakob Chychrun also scored, helping the Coyotes remain fourth in the West Division. Arizona is one point ahead of St. Louis, which beat Colorado 5-3 earlier in the day, for the final playoff spot.</p>
<p>It was Kuemper’s 20th career shutout. </p>
<p>Cal Petersen made 36 saves for the Kings, who fell seven points behid the Coyotes.</p>
<p>Hayden beat Petersen with a wrist shot from the left circle to put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 12:47 into the first period. It was Hayden’s first goal since March 7, 2020, when he was playing for New Jersey. </p>
<p>Arizona doubled its lead 36 seconds into the second period when Crouse redirected Alex Goligoski’s shot in for his fourth goal.</p>
<p>Chychrun made it 3-0 with a thunderous slap shot on a power play at 4:19 of the third.</p>
<p>Kessel stole the puck in the neutral zone and went top shelf with a wrist shot for the 4-0 final at 12:56, putting him two points away from reaching 900 for his career.</p>
<p>Arizona was largely able to contain Los Angeles’ offense, even as the desperate Kings were playing to preserve their playoff hopes after losing 4-2 to Minnesota on Friday. While they piled up 42 shots and plenty of scoring chances against the Wild, the Coyotes held the Kings to few genuinely challenging looks on Kuemper.</p>
<p>On the rare occasions when the Kings did create Kuemper was ready, including turning away the backhand shot on Austin Wagner’s breakaway late in the second period. </p>
<p>GOOD NUMBER</p>
<p>Coyotes forward Derick Brassard got his 500th career point with an assist on Hayden’s goal. Brassard has 194 goals and 306 assists in 897 games.</p>
<p>NO RAANTA</p>
<p>With Antti Raanta not available because of an upper-body injury, Adin Hill backed up Kuemper. Raanta, who has played in 12 games this season because of injuries, is day-to-day. </p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Coyotes: At San Jose on Monday.</p>
<p>Kings: Host Anaheim on Monday.</p>
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