Kevin Fiala scores twice in Kings’ defeat of the Avalanche

Kevin Fiala scored two goals for the second straight game, and Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere had a goal and two assists apiece in the Kings’ 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

Captain Anze Kopitar also scored for the Kings, who have won 10 of 13. L.A. is four points behind Pacific Division-leading Vegas and four points ahead of third-place Edmonton with three games to go, likely sending the Kings into a fourth consecutive first-round meeting with the Oilers. The Kings, who own the regulation wins tiebreaker over Edmonton, can clinch home-ice advantage in the first round with two points.

Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves against the team with which he won the Stanley Cup in 2022, but his streak of allowing two goals or fewer ended at 15 consecutive starts — one short of matching Miikka Kiprusoff’s 2003-04 expansion-era record.

Fiala extended his career high to 34 goals this season. While Kuemper had a rare dud, his frequently low-scoring team has 11 goals in the last two games and 31 in the last seven.

The Kings took a 2-0 lead in the first period before the Avalanche answered with goals midway through the first period and early in the second. Laferriere reclaimed the lead for L.A. with a one-timer set up by Brandt Clarke midway through the second.

Brock Nelson scored two goals for the Avalanche to secure his fourth straight 25-goal season, and second-place Colorado nearly won despite resting NHL scoring co-leader Nathan MacKinnon and several other regulars with its playoff seeding already decided.

Valeri Nichushkin and Sam Malinski also scored, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 28 shots.

Colorado was locked into the No. 3 seed in the Central Division earlier this week, allowing the Avalanche to sit MacKinnon, Cole Makar, Devon Toews, Jonathan Drouin and others during their final weekend of the regular season.