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![Los Angeles Kings center Michael Amadio, left, is congratulated by defenseman Alec Martinez after scoring against the New York Rangers during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
Los Angeles Kings center Michael Amadio, left, is congratulated by defenseman Alec Martinez after scoring against the New York Rangers during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![New York Rangers center David Desharnais (51) is congratulated after his first-period goal against the Los Angeles Kings during an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
New York Rangers center David Desharnais (51) is congratulated after his first-period goal against the Los Angeles Kings during an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![A shot by New York Rangers’ David Desharnais, not seen, goes under the glove of Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. NRangers center J.T. Miller is at left. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
A shot by New York Rangers’ David Desharnais, not seen, goes under the glove of Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. NRangers center J.T. Miller is at left. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93), of Sweden, advances the puck against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93), of Sweden, advances the puck against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![Los Angeles Kings left wing Tanner Pearson (70) scores behind New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
Los Angeles Kings left wing Tanner Pearson (70) scores behind New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, of Sweden, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![Los Angeles Kings defenseman Derek Forbort collides with New York Rangers center Peter Holland (12) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Derek Forbort collides with New York Rangers center Peter Holland (12) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey, center, scores past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey, center, scores past Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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![New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey, center, reacts after scoring against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)]()
New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey, center, reacts after scoring against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)
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LOS ANGELES – Happy days are here again for the Kings.
Down 2-0 to the New York Rangers less than 7 1/2 minutes into the game, the Kings on Sunday scored three power-play goals in the second period and an empty-net goal in the third to defeat the Rangers 4-2 before a sellout crowd of 18,230 at Staples Center.
The Kings (25-17-5, 55 points) snapped their six-game losing streak. The victory seemed fueled by a fight between Kings forward Adrian Kempe and Rangers defenseman Brendan Smith at the end of the first. Smith was also called for roughing, so the Kings began the second on the power play.
Jake Muzzin scored his fourth of the season 30 seconds in, Michael Amadio scored his second at 6:13 and Tanner Pearson his ninth of the season at 10:22.
Those man-advantage goals off-set a power-play goal by New York’s David Desharnais 3:53 into the game and a goal by Jimmy Vesey at 7:12.
The Rangers fall to 24-19-5 (53 points).
“Credit to Adrian,” Kings coach John Stevens said of Kempe. “The kid he’s fighting over there is a pretty tough kid, been in the league for a while. Adrian stands up for himself. Anybody’s ever questioned the heart that kid has had, I’m not sure why, because he showed a lot of it.”
The fight between Kempe and Smith was not long. But Kempe could be seeing brushing his long hair out of his face during the brawl.
“Yeah, I couldn’t really see him, so I had to get my hair back again,” said Kempe, who is just 21. “So it was kind of funny.”
Trevor Lewis scored the empty-net goal with 18 seconds to play. It was his 12th.
Anze Kopitar, who had an assist on Muzzin’s goal, seemed relieved.
“Obviously, it’s big for us to come out and really get the win,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter how we got it.”
Kopitar agreed the fight between Kempe and Smith might have brought the team together.
“Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t matter who it is,” he said. “You get a freebie of a power-play like that in the end of the first period and you’re jumping on a fresh sheet of ice, you want to capitalize on it.”
The Kings out-shot the Rangers 30-23 overall, 12-6 in the second period.
“The second period was arguably our best period this year, so we’ve just gotta play more like that,” Kopitar said.
It was Saturday that defenseman Alec Martinez assured reporters that this team was not beginning to doubt itself, despite having gone from leading the Western Conference in points in December to having fallen out of a playoff spot with its 2-1 loss to Anaheim on Friday.
Martinez had two assists Sunday. He was in a much better mood than he was Saturday during his media session.
“I mean, it’s huge,” he said of the victory, the Kings’ first since Jan. 2 at Edmonton. “I think that there were a lot of things that went into this win. Obviously, the skid that we were on, we wanted to be a better team at home. We wanted to be a better power-play team, we wanted to play more of a 60-minute game.
“I think, obviously, we checked a couple of those boxes. As for the 60 minutes, I think we can still get better at that. I think that we had maybe a couple lulls. But, obviously, a huge win for the hockey club when you come off six in a row.”
The Kings are now tied for third place with Calgary in the Pacific Division. A third-place divisional finish guarantees a team a playoff spot.
There was more rough stuff near the end of the second period when the Kings’ Kyle Clifford and Rangers’ Vesey were given 10-minute misconducts after a whole lot of pushing, shoving and grabbing with others also involved.
“It’s an emotional game and sometimes that’s what you need to get a little jump. … We see that on the bench and that gets us fired up, too,” Martinez said.
The Kings have had one of the more anemic power plays in the league this season. It therefore seems ironic that they won this game that way. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was bummed out about that.
“You know, they got people in front and they shot the puck,” he said. “We weren’t able to get our coverage in front of the net, and the pucks found their way to get in.