Kevin Fiala's pair of goals lifts Kings past Avalanche

Kevin Fiala scored twice, Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere had a goal and two assists each, and the host Los Angeles Kings strengthened their hold on second place in the Pacific Division with a 5-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Anze Kopitar also scored, Andrei Kuzmenko added two assists and Darcy Kuemper turned away 22 shots for Los Angeles (46-24-9, 101 points).

The Kings stretched their lead over idle Edmonton to four points. Both have three games remaining before their likely matchup in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Kings and Oilers also meet Monday night in Edmonton -- and a Los Angeles win could clinch home-ice advantage in the first round.

Brock Nelson posted two goals, including the 300th of his career, to lead the Avalanche (48-29-4, 100 points). Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist and Sam Malinski scored for Colorado, which rested six top players including leading scorers Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 27 saves for Colorado, which has dropped two straight while resting players for the postseason.

Los Angeles scored on its first two shots against Blackwood. Byfield got the first tally at 4:03 of the first period and Fiala made it 2-0 just 3:11 later.

The Avalanche cut the deficit in half when Nelson scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 10:39 of the first -- his 300th goal in his 919th career game -- and Nichushkin tied it at 2:13 of the second.

Laferriere and Kopitar gave the Kings a 4-2 lead with goals later in the second, Malinski scored midway through the third period and Fiala's second of the game made it 5-3.

Blackwood went off for an extra skater and Nelson scored at 17:20. Colorado pulled Blackwood again in the final two minutes and pressed for the equalizer. Kuemper had to make a couple of saves, including one with 10 seconds left, to prevent the game from going into overtime.

--Field Level Media