Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored twice and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Sunday night at the United Center.
Kevin Fiala had two assists and Pheonix Copley stopped 18 shots to help the Kings snap a four-game losing streak.
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“We were better in a lot of areas,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “We were tighter, checked well, and for two periods we broke out quickly. If we finished more chances, we would have been in a much more comfortable situation in the end.”
Defenseman Ian Mitchell scored his first goal of the season for the Hawks, spoiling Copley’s shutout bid with 3:15 remaining. Petr Mrázek finished with 25 saves. The Hawks had won three straight and six of seven.
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“With their 1-3-1 defense, they were kind of mugging it up on us,” Hawks coach Luke Richardson said. “It’s legal moving interference, and we didn’t have the energy to break through it.”
Anderson-Dolan had an open net for his rebound of Fiala’s shot 9:29 into the game, easily sending it past Mrázek to cap a two-on-one and put the Kings up 1-0.
“Obviously that’s one of the easier ones I’ve had, just sitting there for me,” Anderson-Dolan said. “We were good defensively and had a lot of O-zone time.”
The 23-year-old made it 2-0 at 6:07 of the second as his soft wrist shot from the left circle befuddled Mrázek as it went by his blocker.
Anderson-Dolan’s first two-goal game came in his 84th NHL game. They were the 11th and 12th goals of his career, further cementing his spot in the lineup after replacing the injured Brendan Lemieux in mid-November. Lemieux has since returned, but Anderson-Dolan’s two-way play has kept him in the lineup.
Copley faced only three shots in the first period, and the Hawks barely picked up the pace thereafter, even with two power plays.
“I think everyone was a little frustrated (after the last two games), and we played with a little more attitude and a little more urgency in our game,” Copley said. “I think it was big for everybody.”
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said he expects to sit down with star forwards Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, each of whom have no-trade contracts, and agent Pat Brisson within the next two weeks and no later than mid-February. The trade deadline is March 3.
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“To get a sense of where everyone’s at, what they’re feeling, as we approach the deadline,” Davidson said on NBC Sports Chicago. “We want their thoughts on what they intend to do. They’re in full control of their destinies. We’ll get a better sense of that in short order.”
Davidson said mid-February was necessary “as a buffer” if either player wants to be moved. Both Kane and Toews are in their last contract year and have a $10.5 million cap hit.
Kings: Continue a six-game trip Tuesday in Philadelphia.
Blackhawks: Open a three-game trip Wednesday in Vancouver.
