Pheonix Copley makes 25 saves, Kraken fall 3-1 to Kings

SEATTLE - The top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference is looking more and more likely for the Seattle Kraken.

Pheonix Copley stopped 25 of 26 shots from the Seattle Kraken and Carl Grundstrom's early third period goal served as the difference in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

"They don't give up a lot off the rush and that's what you can expect at this time of year. This is kind of the type of game that I've been talking about and as you move forward (into the playoffs)," head coach Dave Hakstol said.

The Kings are now eight points clear of Seattle for third place in the Pacific Division. The Kings (98), Vegas Golden Knights (101) and Edmonton Oilers (99) are separated by just three points in the standings with six games left to play (five for the Oilers). 

Seattle's next five games all come against non-playoff teams, which gives the Kraken at chance at making up the deficit. However, two final games against Vegas to end the season could stand in the way as well.

The Kraken are three points clear of the Winnipeg Jets in the second Wild Card spot. They are five points clear of the Calgary Flames and six points clear of the Nashville Predators, who are the first two teams out of playoff position as the season enters its final 10 days.

The game against the Kings looked like a playoff contest with both defensive units making it difficult to find scoring chances. Each team managed just six shots in a scoreless first period.

As a reminder, the last time these two teams met in November, the Kraken won in a wild 9-8 finish in overtime. Scoring proved far more challenging to come by this time around.

"They kind of sit back and play good defensively. It's hard to get chances. So you really gotta work hard for your shots and net presence and so on. So it's kind of like a playoff game," said Oliver Bjorkstrand, who scored the only goal of the night for Seattle.

The Kings broke the stalemate with just over eight minutes left in the second period. A shot attempt from Alex Iafallo was blocked by Jared McCann, but the puck deflected wide of the net directly to Sean Durzi for an easy finish and a 1-0 lead at the end of the second period.

The Kraken came out firing early in the third period with some of their best chances of the game. Vince Dunn and Jordan Eberle had good early chances before a breakaway for Eeli Tolvanen was stopped by Copley to maintain the Kings advantage.

Despite the pressure, the Kraken were unable to breakthrough with the tying goal.

"We won a few more pucks and that's the big thing," Hakstol said of the increased pressure. "The first two periods we didn't win enough of those first pucks to give ourselves an offensive opportunity in the O-zone. And when we did, you know, we weren't able to get through their goaltenders eyes enough. We ended up on the outside when we were shooting from the outside and that's tough to generate that way."

However, Grundstrom picked the puck off of Brandon Tanev in the Seattle zone and snapped a goal off the bar over the shoulder of Jones to make it a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the third period.

"It was two teams that checked really well and played to a structure pretty well and there wasn't a lot of room out there," said goaltender Martin Jones, who made 16 saves on just 18 shots by the Kings. "So, you know, one bounce here, one bounce there, it could have been a different outcome here."

Blake Lizotte tripped Jared McCann with just over 12 minutes remaining to put Seattle on the power play.

A Daniel Sprong shot slipped through Copley and off the post to become loose in the goal crease. As Vladislav Gavrikov tried to clear the puck from danger, Oliver Bjorkstrand redirected the Gavrikov clearance by a sprawled Copley to pull within one.

Jones headed for the bench with 1:35 left to play, but Kevin Fiala added an empty net goal to make it a 3-1 final for the Kings.

The Kraken continue to lack scoring punch with the ongoing absence of André Burakovsky, who has missed 25 games with a lower body injury. In their last three losses to the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild and Kings, the Kraken managed just one goal in each game.

Seattle has three games left against the Arizona Coyotes, and games against the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks before the closing home-and-home series with the Golden Knights. The Kraken (90 pts) likely only need around four more points in the standings to secure a playoff spot. They shouldn't have any problem getting across the finish line sometime next week.