LOS ANGELES — The train kept rolling for the Kings, who extended their franchise-record home points streak to 15 games (12-0-3) and defeated the New York Rangers, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. They have won four straight games and nine of their past 10, their best 10-game stretch of t he season to date. They are now in sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division and trail Vegas, which beat Minnesota 5-1 on Tuesday, by five points for the division lead. The Rangers lost for the fourth time in their past five games, having stolen a game in Vancouver on Saturday. They remained one point back of a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. Kevin Fiala and Phillip Danault each had a power-play goal for the hosts before Fiala tacked on an empty-netter. Danault played in his 700th career game. Darcy Kuemper won his sixth straight decision at home and made 22 saves. J.T. Miller opened the scoring for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin tied a career high by making his eighth straight start, stopping 30 shots and denying Kings fans the opportunity to see former Kings playoff MVP Jonathan Quick in action with his current club. Fiala iced the Kings’ cake with 15.7 seconds showing on the game clock, his vacated-cage tally being his second goal of the game and 28th of the season. The Kings had dug in during the third period, killing the only penalty of the frame and effectively protecting their one-goal lead, even playing five-on-six. That all came at a cost, however, as winger Tanner Jeannot exited the game and did not return. He felled the enormous Michael Rempe in a fight on Tuesday and had collected four points in his two previous games, playing perhaps his best hockey since his rookie season with Nashville of late. In the absence of the rugged Jeannot, an unlikely source provided some physicality when Jordan Spence leveled Will Cuylle, a forward the Rangers took with the pick they acquired from the Kings in the ill-fated Lias Andersson deal. To begin the game, 20 bland minutes of the opening period gave way to a spicy start to the middle frame. Danault made the post ring for the Kings and on each side of his near miss were forays for the Rangers, including the game’s first goal. Initially it appeared as though the swift pad of Kuemper and some dogged stick work by Brandt Clarke would keep the game scoreless, but an official review determined Miller’s stuff attempt completely crossed the goal line. The Rangers led 1-0, 2:10 into the period. Miller has 27 points in 27 games against the Kings in his career, and has been just shy of that point-per-game pace overall since being traded from Vancouver to New York at the end of January. The Kings pulled even at 10:54 and went ahead nearly seven minutes later, both behind conversions on the power play following penalties drawn by Quinton Byfield. He baited the Rangers into a third infraction, Adam Fox’s tripping penalty to prevent a shorthanded breakaway, late in the frame to negate a Rangers power play. On the tying goal, Andrei Kuzmenko turned in a stirring shift with the extra man. First, his pass for Adrian Kempe nearly set up one score. Then, he took both a stick between the legs and a cross-check from Shesterkin before popping to the side of the net, waiting out two defenders and delivering a precise pass across the crease for Fiala’s tap-in tally. The Kings took the lead when their second unit matched the contributions of their first. Trevor Moore’s keep-in at the blue line for Warren Foegele allowed the puck to find Moore for a shot that created a rebound for Danault’s seventh goal of 2024-25. He went skate to stick before zipping a shot over the outstretched twig of Shesterkin. More to come on this story. Related Articles Kings face Rangers looking to extend hot streak on home ice Kings dominate again in win over Boston Kings show dominance in blowing past Hurricanes Kings all about momentum with back-to-back home set Darcy Kuemper remains stingy as Kings beat Blackhawks ...read more read less